


Death's Gambit

by Shadowblayze



Series: Death's Gambit 'Verse [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: Adorable!Tsuna, Supportive sibling
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-20
Updated: 2016-05-23
Packaged: 2018-05-02 12:51:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 37,949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5248877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadowblayze/pseuds/Shadowblayze
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lily Potter incurred a debt all those years ago, and when Harry finally makes it all the way into the in-between Death uses that opportunity to call it in. Reborn as the ten-months-younger sibling of Sawada Tsunayoshi, she's got a lot to figure out about the world around her- and the greatest big brother in the world! Wait? She? Dammit, Death!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

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_Shattered.  Drained.  Hollow.  Finished._

That pretty much summed up how Harry Potter felt as he listened to the visage of his old Headmaster ramble on about life, love, and _going back_ to the war that had just killed him.

His arms twitched slightly at his sides as he glanced back at the pitiful baby-sized thing that was wailing in agony under one of the benches in the ethereal King’s Cross Station.  The Headmaster’s words continued to wash over him, the tone pleasant despite the message as Harry ached for things to finally just end.

( _He wanted his Mum and Dad and Cedric and Sirius and Remus and Tonks and Fred-_

_He wanted his family.  He wanted to feel their arms around him, see their smiles, and finally just belong._ )

Harry was so focused on his thoughts that he really didn’t notice the Headmaster’s panicked visage as the Station melted away and the man abruptly faded being replaced by a being of incomprehensible gender phasing smoothly into existence, a cowl obscuring their features and a gnarled staff in their hand.

Harry looked up, startled, as he finally noticed the changes in his surroundings, and then he saw his visitor and he smiled- sun bright, elated, and brilliant- as he took in the terrifying Being before him, “Hello, Death.  Have you come to take me home?” He asked breathlessly as he held his hand out unhesitatingly towards his fate.

The Being seemed almost amused as spindly, frigid fingers wrapped around his wrist.

_Not quite, Master._   The Being seemed to breathe into the air around them, though the visible mouth never actually moved. 

Then the visage of Lily Potter appeared, “Hello, sweetheart.” His mother said tenderly, bright green eyes shimmering with tears as she moved to rest a gentle hand against his cheek.

Harry closed his eyes and savored the contact, his mother’s hand was actually warm against his skin and something deep inside him keened as he leant further into her touch.  “ _Mum_.” He managed though traitorous, trembling lips.

Lily’s other hand came up to cup his face and she smiled warmly even as the tears finally overflowed her eyes, “It’s alright, baby.  You haven’t done anything wrong.  You-“ here her breath hitched and she tugged her son forward, cradling him to her breast as her beautiful boy shakily wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her neck.  “You’ve been so _brave,_ sweetheart.  We’re so proud of you, all of us.”

“Then why-“ Harry sobbed into her neck as he clung to her tighter, “-why can’t I just come _home_?”

Lily soothed her boy gently, rocking him slightly as her own tears dripped down her cheeks, “It’s my fault, sweetheart.  It’s the debt that I incurred that night, and the one that’s been added to throughout the years.  You see, to gain something, something of equal value must be lost.  It’s a law inherent to all the worlds.”

“Worlds?” Harry mumbled into her neck.

Lily laughed lightly, “I can’t really explain it, baby- being dead has its perks, you know!  I’ve learned so much!-- but there are countless worlds that exist simultaneously and independently, is the easiest way of saying it.”

“ _What_?”

Lily laughed again and pulled back just slightly so she could wipe the tears from her son’s face, “The specifics don’t really matter, sweetheart.  But instead of coming to us now, you owe a debt to Death.”  She smoothed the wrinkles from Harry’s expression with another smile, “Death exists on every world because Death is constant, unchanging.  There is a world where a young man has an incredible destiny, but he will be terribly lonely and suffer greatly, but Death is using the debt that you owe to place you into the young man’s life to help be a light so that he might reach his full potential.”

Harry’s lips twisted bitterly and _rage_ welled up inside him, but it quickly died back down as his mother’s smile turned softer and she kissed his brow, “I’m not sorry, sweetheart.  I know it’s selfish, but I am your _mother_ and I want to see you live, even if it is in a different world with different people.  Heaven is universal, and we’ll all still be here waiting for you, darling, but even though this world is much darker and different than ours there’s still a chance that you’ll be able to be truly happy and I want that for you, baby.”

Lily tugged her son back down and she wrapped her arms around him tightly as she whispered in his ear, “I love you, Harry.  Even though your name will change and you will have an entirely new life, I love you and I want you to be _happy_.  Do it for your mother, won’t you, sweetheart?”

Then there was a whisper of cloth, a kiss to his brow, a thousand voices all clamoring to be heard, a million stars in the sky, the bright green of his mother’s shimmering eyes, (full of love and compassion and tenderness and _hope_ ),  and then-

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Sawada Tsunayoshi was welcomed into the world on October 14th, his father barely making it back in time for his birth.

Literally- Sawada Iemitsu came barreling into the Maternity Ward of Namimori General Hospital eight minutes and twenty-seven seconds before little Tsunayoshi finally made his appearance, but all the hassles, threats, and favors he had been banding about like a madman the past few days were worth it to see the bright smile on Nana’s face when he made it into the Delivery Room.

“Meet your Otou-san, Tsu-kun.” Nana had said, exhausted but exhilarated as she handed the precious, squirmy bundle to Iemitsu barely fifteen minutes after he had walked through the door.

Iemitsu had looked down at his sleepy little bundle, eyes baby blue and body still slimy and wrinkly, and promptly fell in love.

“Hey, little Tuna-Fish, I’m your daddy.” Iemitsu whispered reverently before breaking out into his signature goofy grin and starting to wail about how ‘manly’ his ‘cute little Tuna-Fish was’.

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Iemitsu had managed to wrangle nearly eight weeks of leave- even though he was working from an office a city away three days a week- before he had to go back to Italy for work.

There was lots of wailing, (Iemitsu), watery giggling, (Nana) and sleeping, (Tsunayoshi), during the parting but Iemitsu left and the three-person Sawada household became two.

(In most worlds the baby that young Sawada couple conceived not long after Nana was cleared for sexual activity does not survive the early stages of pre-pregnancy and Nana is never aware that she was nearly a mother twice over.  The stress the young woman is put under as a suddenly single mother having recently undergone childbirth is too much for her body to handle and her body simply rejects the young organism before it can fully assimilate and alert her to its presence and the remains are gently washed away in her next cycle.

In this particular world, however, there is a meddling Being with a Debt to be Paid and so Nana is not only a newly single mother of a newborn, she is a newly single _newly pregnant_ mother of a newborn.)

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Nana regularly offers up thanks every ancestor she knows of, (including Hina-obaa-san who had absolutely _hated_ Nana as a child), that Tsuna was mostly an _angel_.  He was still a baby, of course, but he was an _angel baby_.

She is also exceedingly grateful that though her husband isn’t here with her, he makes enough money to allow her to stay home and just take care of her baby as her second pregnancy has been much, _much_ less smooth than her first.

It hasn’t been complicated in a medical sense, but in terms of body aches, nausea, and mood swings it has been _hell_.

Nana really hopes that these things are not an indication of her second child’s temperament-to-be.

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Nana’s projected due date is late early September.

Iemitsu was bewildered by the news of her second pregnancy, (he hadn’t been aware that she could conceive again that quickly and had needed to have things explained to him), but once he wrapped his head around things, he was almost just as or more excited about this child than he was about Tsu-kun.

Iemitsu had plans to be home in late August and stay for nearly two months, although he wouldn’t be able to take much time off over the next few years to make up for all the time he had taken lately.

So, naturally, Nana went into labor suddenly on July 30th and delivered the baby just after midnight on the 31st.

As she held her new child in her arms, absently noting that one of the nurses had brought nine-month-old Tsu-kun into the room and he was peering curious recently-turning-brown eyes down at the little pink bundle.

_What?_

“Sensei?  I was told I was having a boy?” Nana trailed off uncertainly, utterly bewildered and exhausted.

The doctor- a woman in her forties- grinned at the Sawada matriarch, “Sometimes the techs make mistakes, and that one has been pretty shy.  I assure though, Sawada-san, that she is a perfectly healthy girl, no extra appendages or anything.”

Nana nodded distantly, looking down at her daughter again and smiling brightly as her daughter opened baby-blue eyes and gazed up at her curiously, “Terasu.  Sawada Terasu.”

“Ma’am, that’s not really not a name befitting a young lady-“

Nana looked at the doctor, then back down at her new daughter who was cooing at Tsu-kun, and something within her hummed happily, “It means to ‘illuminate’ or ‘to shine on’ doctor.  Little Terasu- that is what we would have named her had she been born a boy for my family’s traditions anyways- is going to do something great and as her mother I have faith that she’ll light her own path.  Sawada Terasu, I am Sawada Nana, your Mama, and this is Sawada Tsunayoshi , your big brother.”

Tsunayoshi peered curiously down at the squirmy bundle and smiled brightly.

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Sawada Terasu jolted upright in her bed with a soundless scream on her lips as seventeen years of Harry Potter’s life and meeting Lily Potter in the In-Between finished playing in her dreams.

She panted lightly and clutched at her chest as she tried to sort through everything.

The dreams had been happening for a while, but it always seemed like they were enshrouded in mist in the mornings as she could never truly _remember_ them.  Having all the information suddenly snap into place wasn’t so much _painful_ _and fresh_ as it was _startling_ in its suddenness.

(What she didn’t know what that Death had been allowing her subconscious to sort through the memories and relegate them to the ‘ancient history’ part of her in an effort to assist her in her transition to this new world without losing her advantage or forgetting her purpose.)

Formerly being a boy didn’t really bother her, she was a she in this life and that was that, so that was one difference assimilated- at least for now, but at the grand age of five it wasn’t as if puberty was complicating her life and Harry hadn’t had much time for such things anyways.

She would have to check and see if she had magic though, and she spoken English in her past life, so now that she fully had those memories maybe she could speak it again?

Terasu wriggled out of her bed, wrinkling her nose at the overt about of pink in her room, making a mental note to change that _as soon as possible_.  She padded over to her door and quietly slipped into the hall, just as easily slipping into her brother’s room and nearly tripping over the stuff on his floor.  _Note to self:  Help Tsuna keep his room cleaner._   She thought with amusement as she picked her way across the room and slipped under the covers with her ten-months-older brother.

“Mm, ‘Tera-chan?” He murmured sleepily.

She ran tiny fingers through wild brown hair, “Shhh, Tsu-nii, go back to sleep.”

“Mm.” He said, breathing evening out soon after as she continued to stroke his soft hair.

Terasu smiled tenderly down at her brother as she propped herself up on an elbow and watched the gentle rise and fall of Tsuna’s chest in the gentle lighting of the room.  Tsuna was shy and clumsy, he had trouble with the basic katakana he was learning in school and utterly failed at most sports.  He was bullied by some of his teachers and most of his classmates had started calling him Dame-Tsuna last year in Nursery.  He cried when he got frustrated and had never gotten over an ‘11’ on a history test.

Tsuna was also the best brother _ever_.  Tsuna always smiled for her, even when people were still whispering about ‘that no-good Sawada boy’ loud enough for him to hear, and he protected her even when he was scared- even from the neighbor’s dog!- and he was pretty much everything that really mattered in a good sibling.

She could see now, how she could have become desensitized to her brother’s treatment over time.  Terasu would like to think that she never would have been so self-absorbed to join in on it, as there are some things about a person that never change and Terasu _hated_ bullies, but now that she had Harry’s memories-

Now she could _help._

Being all of ten months apart meant that most people often mistake Tsuna and Terasu for twins, despite the fact that Tsuna has fluffy, flyaway brown hair and doe-like chocolate colored eyes while Terasu once again has raven hair and brilliant green eyes- thanks to his maternal grandparents for the hair, though it was curly this time, and his father’s mother for the eyes- but by the time they were around three Mama had pretty much given up explaining this and since Terasu didn’t seem to mind being thought of as being nearly a full year older, so she just introduced them and let people draw their own conclusions.

That was another situation that gained a new perspective in Terasu’s mind as she shifted around to arrange herself a bit more comfortably next to her brother in such a way that she could continue to pet his hair as she thought about things.

Thinking back through conversations with Hermione- or rather, the brilliant witch filling the silence of the tent during the Horcrux Hunt with rambling about anything and everything once it had only been the two of them, had dying made her memory better?  Or were the memories just fresh?- about psychology, Terasu thought back over the past few years and began to patch together a disturbing set of theories.

Sawada Iemitsu was their father- he was supposedly a construction worker- and he had been home a total of two months in Terasu’s memory, and that had been just after her third birthday. 

So, basically Sawada Nana was a single mother of two children.

Hermione had rambled on about Postpartum Depression, Postpartum Anxiety, and Postpartum OCD, when she had been going on about Mrs. Weasley and her obsessiveness, and about how it was fairly common and treatable, but she had listed out a whole bunch of symptoms and among those was a ‘sense of disconnect from things around you’ and ‘feeling the need to constantly be busy’ and how the condition could evolve into Maternal Depression which could peak and ebb, and impacted the sense of trust between parent and child.

Like the way the Weasley family hadn’t understood Percy and had allowed the others to push the boy around and ‘prank’ him past his breaking point and then wonder why he turned into a stuck up prat and left. 

_Percy made his own decisions, of course,,_ she’d said while waving her hands around in emphasis in front of their tiny campfire one night, _but his mother- as the primary caretaker- had an obviously difficult time connecting with him, and I think the rest of the kids in the household understood that on some level, especially the younger ones, and tried to increase that distance in order to get more of Mrs. Weasley’s attention for themselves.  What makes the situation worse is that Mrs. Weasley is an excellent mother and caretaker and her ‘failure’ only made her obsess over what she was doing ‘wrong’ and so she ended up smothering her children, and exasperating the issue by distancing Percy even more.  It’s difficult and scary for a mother to admit because it is so ‘wrong’ and ‘bad’ to feel and there is a stigma even if you do get help, as there is obviously something ‘wrong’ or ‘broken’ with you.  It would be doubly so for someone like Mrs. Weasley as the only real point of pride she has are her children and being a mother._

 (She had also said that like any psychological conditions the symptoms could be blatant and brazen or subtle and introverted, and that conditions such as depression could span several different ‘categories’, but Terasu thought that Postpartum is where his Mama’s issues began.)

Terasu could look back on daily life in the Sawada household over the past few years and see little tells that she never would have seen before that Mama felt overwhelmed and alone and stressed.  Maybe not depressed, per se, but she definitely had issues connecting with Tsuna and Terasu for months at a time, usually right before or right after one of their father’s phone calls.

So, maybe not exactly what Hermione was talking about, but somewhat?

Mama had some stuff she needed to work through, but with people in the neighborhood already talking about how a waitress married a construction worker who made good enough money for them to live in the house that they lived in, not to mention their father’s absence, and her and Tsuna being kids, it was unlikely that Mama wanted to even admit that there might be an issue that she need to work through.

So, Terasu needed to make sure that Tsuna got all the support he needed, because she didn’t want her brother to be like Percy- so willing to do anything for the first people willing to accept him.

(She ignored the little voice that pointed out that Harry had done that, too.)

Right, so, she had to make sure that she got put in Tsu-nii’s class.

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“Please, Mama?” Terasu begged the next morning, after Tsuna had left for school.

“Ara?  But why Tera-chan?  Don’t you like to be with Mama all day?” Nana asked her daughter with a pout as she washed dishes at the sink.

“Of course, I do Mama!” Terasu protested as she grabbed a dishcloth and started to clumsily wipe down the table, “But Tsu-nii and I aren’t that far apart in age, and if I can join his class early and learn my alphabet, they won’t mind me being in his class later, right?  Then Tsu-nii and I can do our homework together and spend more time with you!”

Nana turned around and ran a hand through her daughter’s curls, “Well, if you’re sure, Tera-chan, I’ll let you take the entrance tests at term if you study with Tsu-kun until then.”

Terasu threw her arms around her mother’s waist and tipped her head back to grin up at her, “I promise I’ll do my best, Mama!”

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“Hie!  You want to do what?” Tsuna shrieked when she told him her plan that afternoon.  They were sitting in his room and he had gotten home from school not too long before.

“I wanna study with you so that I can test into your class.” She repeated patiently, she hadn’t anticipated her brother literally _wilting_.  “Tsu-nii, what’s wrong?!”

“Even my baby sister is better than me.” He said sadly, not bitterly, just sadly.

“Stop it!” Terasu burst out fiercely, causing Tsuna to look up at her with watery eyes and she promptly wrapped her arms around him and whispered in his ear, “That’s not it at all!  It’s you and me against the world, Tsu!  That mean that we’ve gotta stay together!”

Tsuna’s arms came around her and he cried into the juncture of her neck, “But you’ll just see how bad I am at everything for yourself.” He mumbled after a few minutes, “How I’m not the cool brother you think I am, I’m just ‘Dame-Tsuna’ and you won’t-“

Terasu tightened her arms around Tsuna and fairly hissed her words, “It’s you and me against the world, Tsu _.  Always_.”

Tsuna hiccupped, “Promise? He asked shakily.

“ _Promise_.” Terasu repeated, throwing every ounce of her conviction behind that word, and within the two children, the Hyper Intuition that rested within their souls _purred._

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Studying with Tsuna was like trying to color a Vincent van Gogh painting with a color-by-number template.

It wasn’t that he didn’t understand the concepts, they just seemed to slide over him when he needed to reach for that knowledge.

Terasu looked at the times tables and had an epiphany.

_Brightest witch of her generation, indeed._

“C’mon, Tsu-nii, let’s try something!” She called brightly and her brother groaned, as over the last few weeks, her version of ‘let’s try something’ usually had ended badly for him.

It wasn’t _her_ fault accidental magic usually involved a certain amount of emotional distress or imminent harm.

She dragged her brother down the stairs and turned him to face them when they got to the bottom, “Ok, this is the way this is going to work.  We’re going to go through the times tables, and take a step for each one, since there are fourteen steps, we won’t make it all the way to the top for this exercise.  Ready?”

Her brother moaned miserably but acquiesced.

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The months passed, Tsuna turned six, and his grades slowly improved, though Terasu was less worried about paltry First Grade tests and more about building a solid foundation for _both_ of them to learn from for the rest of their lives- katakana was _hard_ and most of the history was new to Terasu, even with some of her other advantages afforded from her memories of Harry’s Primary education.

It took a lot of repetition- meaning much use of the stair climbing method, much to their mother’s amusement-, but once he got something to stick it _stuck_.

Their father called for Christmas, and for about a week their mother was on top of the world before she _crashed_ and retreated so deeply into the household chores that they barely remembered she existed save for meals and their laundry being done.

Terasu taught Tsuna to keep his room clean and his clothes neat through gentle teasing and playful display of his underclothes when he didn’t place them in the hamper properly.

The siblings had gotten Nana to buy a nice golden paint for Terasu’s room and they spent a full weekend painting it, Terasu using stencils over the next several weeks to carefully color reliefs of phoenixes, unicorns, dragon, and any other magical-ish creature she could find a template for with acrylic paint, (the craft kind from small tubes, it was small enough that Nana let her buys several colors) on her newly-golden walls.  Tsuna had chosen to read his manga or do his schoolwork in her room while she painted.

Terasu took the exams, and would be allowed to start with Tsuna’s class in April, when the new school year began.

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Nana came back to herself about a week before school was set to begin, and the clothes shopping experience had been _exhausting_.

When Mama was good she was _great_.

Terasu entered Namimori West Elementary technically four months ahead of schedule and a grade level ahead, but she was in Tsu-nii’s class and she would fight to stay there.

She turned to her brother just before they entered their classroom for the first time and smiled brightly at him, “You and me against the world, Tsu-nii!”

Tsuna smiled gently at her- though there were shadows in her brother’s eyes that she absolutely _loathed_ \- and agreed, “You and me against the world, Tera-chan.”

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It takes Tsuna’s bullies exactly an insult and a half to realize that while Tsuna would let them pick on him, he would not let them pick on his little sister.

Not that he got to do anything about it that first time, as Terasu balled up her tiny hand and punched the idiot in the face before rounding on his cohorts, “Well,” she all but growled, “Does anything else have anything to say about my absolutely amazing brother _who you’re not fit to lick the shoes of_?”

The older elementary student- maybe nine or ten- had been one of Tsuna’s tormentors the entire previous year when he had still been in Nursery, “Crazy little bit-“

This time it’s Tsuna’s fist to his face that sends him crashing to the floor.

“ _Never._ ” The brown-haired boy says in an alarmingly controlled voice, orange fire dancing in his eyes, as something roars inside of him, “Talk to my sister like that again.”

Then there are the Sawada siblings, standing shoulder-to-shoulder, faces set in determined lines with two older children on the ground and the third terrified when a staff member happens upon them and they refuse to apologize, even when threatened with calling their Mama, and then made good on the threat.

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Sawada Nana knows that there is something _broken_ inside of her, and that it had been broken for a very long time.

She likes to pretend that Iemitsu fixes it, that he soothes her soul as her one true soulmate and that there is nothing that their love cannot weather.

Nana is perfectly aware that most of those thoughts are pretty lies.

Oh, Iemitsu loves her, she knows this.  He loves her with the desperation of a man who clings to an ideal that he knows that he can never reach, and so, even though their love is real it is also _fake_ \- because Sawada Nana had been all alone, a pretty, but dim waitress with a penchant for taking care of people and utterly alone in the world, slowly fading away from not being needed by a single person despite how much of herself she poured out to absolutely everyone around her.

They’d take a little, and then leave her there with so much more to give and so little to give it from.

Then Iemitsu had blown in to her little café.  All tall, blonde, and handsome with shadows in his eyes and weariness in his soul and Nana did what she always did: she gave.  She poured herself and her light and her laughter into this darkened man and quickly grew to love him as he clung to her desperately, making her feel _important_ and _needed_ for the first time since she had been left all alone in the world.

When he had lied to her about his job she had accepted it with a smile, because that was alright- it wasn’t important, he _needed_ her, he _wanted_ her- that was important.

When he had asked her to marry him after their extremely brief courtship, she had accepted even though he had warned that he could be gone for years, and she suspected that he thought her a bit too dim to consider all her options.

Nana had been sixteen when she had gotten married- there had been no one to object and they had faced no complications filing the paperwork.

She would wait months- years- for her husband to return.  She had taken some college classes, but though she had graduated from High School, she was enough in the median that colleges were difficult for her to attempt entrance to, and most were outside the range she could comfortably travel to consistently from Namimori, which was one of the few things that Iemitsu had asked her not to do often.

So, she stayed in the house that she and her husband had spent so little time together in and tried to make it _home._

All the while she kept pouring herself out to everyone around her- feeding them, listening to them, accepting them- even though they whispered hurtful things behind her back, ( _dim-witted, slow, trophy wife, gold digger_ ), and never, ever returned the favor.

Then Tsuna came, quickly followed by Terasu, and while she was thrilled to be needed and wanted she was also overwhelmed and terrified.  There were days where she would lock herself in her room after the two went to sleep and cry her eyes out- _What kind of mother thinks about how fragile their baby’s neck is?  What kind of mother wants to run away from two wonderful children?  What kind of woman is so ungrateful to a man who works hard to provide for them?_

She would sit with her back to the door all night, tears and hiccups and mucus her only company until dawn would break and she would muster herself into the shower and through another day.

Nana _despised_ the gentle understanding she saw in Terasu’s eyes nowadays.

(Nana despised that it needed to exist, for if she wasn’t there quintessential wife and mother, what good was she?)

So, when she was called into the office about her children getting into a physical disagreement, Nana knew that this was a pivotal moment and she resolves to dig deep and be a _true mother_.  She squared her shoulders and pushed extra hard against the judging gazes and critical stares as she held her head high and looked the principal directly in the eye, “I will not punish my children for standing up for themselves, even if I do not approve of fighting.”

She trembled, but Terasu’s small hand slipped into one hers and Tsuna smiled brightly up at her as he slipped his hand into her other hand.

(Nana might not be quintessential mother, but she could push past her own struggles and be a _true mother_ when it counted.  Really, that’s all that matters in the end.)

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	2. Chapter 2

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The next few days at school were trying as teachers and students lightly insulted or tried to bully Tsuna and Terasu, but the siblings stood together and refused to budge.

(Though, it was more Terasu’s steadfast support and her whispering in in Tsuna’s ear that if they backed down now those bullies would actually _hurt her_ when they got older. 

Tsuna would have folded and accepted defeat for himself, but not for his sister _.  Never_.)

So, they stood tall, or as tall as they could with their bumps and bruises and carefully made their way home after their run-ins with their new bullies, and Mama simply kept the First Aid kit stocked for them.

Terasu hadn’t fought a war as Harry without learning how to be resourceful, however, and Mum had warned her that this world was ‘darker’, so that meant that she and Tsu-nii needed to learn to defend themselves.

_But._ She thinks amusedly as she watches Tsuna trip, _We need to learn some grace first._

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Terasu sat on her floor, attempting to meditate, but whatever she was reaching for seems as it is purposefully shying away from her.

She was disappointed, but not defeated when she finally decided to stop attempting to reach her ‘core’ and go to bed.

There is a supernatural force in this world, she can almost guarantee it as she saw the fire in Tsu-nii’s eyes that first day and the shock on his face when it faded- as if he had performed accidental magic- but she will teach him to be strong without that fire.

Her brother is amazing _as he is_ , after all.

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The months move forward, April becomes May and May becomes June and Tsuna still sits in the lowest level of the class rankings, while Terasu only sits in the median to be allowed to stay with him.

(Terasu cares little for what their tests or teachers say, her brother is _brilliant_ -and someday he’ll prove them _all_ wrong.)

The siblings once again stand at the bottom of the stairs.

“Ok, ready?  We’re not going to use the paper this time!” Terasu chirps brightly to her groaning brother.  “Three times three.” She says expectantly after a moment.

Tsuna’s brow furrows in thought, “Si- _nine_!” he crows triumphantly, which earns him a beaming smile and they take a step to mark their progress.

(It’s slow going, and they end up by the door a lot from all the steps backwards that they have to take, but on the day that Tsuna answers enough questions correctly that he makes it up all fourteen steps, he turns and wraps her in the biggest, warmest hug _ever_ and whispers in her ear, “ _Thank you, Tera-chan.  It really is us against the world, huh_?” is worth every hour of frustration that it took to get there.)

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“Tsu-nii!  Dance with me!” Terasu laughed brightly as they made their way from the dance studio.

Tsuna sighed and blushed lightly,  but acquiesced as the music drifted out from the restaurant that they were walking past, wrapping his arms around his sister and fumbling through the steps of the dance that she led the through.

One thing that changed besides school was that Terasu had begged Mama to put them in dance classes. 

Well, Terasu had begged Mama to put _her_ in dance classes and then had _refused_ to attend to by herself, so Tsuna had been volunteered to go with her, and when the boy had flailed about _not wanting to go_ he had been subjected to his sister’s watery green eyes and an epic pout which had naturally caused the boy to fold like a wet paper towel.

So, their second week of school the Sawada siblings had started dance lessons at a local studio.  They were young enough that they were allowed to take a ‘sampler’ classes, and next year they could choose two or three different disciplines to pursue as they were mostly getting an overview and working on flexibility, balance, and basic traditional dances for now.

Since their dance classes were relatively close to home and school, they were allowed to walk.  (They really should have noticed that it was not normal for young children to be unattended, but Harry hadn’t exactly had a normal childhood either.)

Like the one drifting out of the shop- a _Tanabata_ melody, as the festival was in just over a month and some music stations started playing the music for it early.

Terasu threw her arms around her bright-red brother in an affectionate hug as the song came to an end and a few passerby shook their heads bemusedly at the duo, “You and me against the world, Tsu-nii.”

Tsuna chuckled into her hair, as even though he was more petite than her, he was slightly taller, “You and me against the world, Tera-chan.” He murmured affectionately to his _insane_ sister.

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The first time Terasu pulled out her Dying Will Flames, (though she has absolutely no idea that is what they are called at the time), she was sitting on her brother’s bed running gentle fingers through his hair, and contemplating her mother’s imminent crash into obsessive housekeeping.

Their father called the other day.

Sawada Iemitsu was an enigma to Terasu- a study in contradictions and lies and yet-

There was no mistaking the tone the man used when he told them that he loved them.

He was coming home in a month to spend some time with them and she wasn’t sure how she felt about that, but something inside her _stirred_.

Terasu sighed in frustration as the _almost-whisper_ tried to say something _again_ and she could almost make it out. It was like a word on the tip of your tongue-

_Ts….a_

Terasu’s finger’s stopped and her Will snapped into place as her eyes turned gold.

_Nothing will happen to Tsuna_.  She snarled to that place in her mind.  _Not while I draw breath_!

Terasu firmly suppressed the yelp that wanted to burst forth as brilliant ocher flames flickered into existence along her fingers and arm, (and her forehead, but she couldn’t see that), and she felt calm once she could see that they weren’t actually burning her or Tsuna.

_So, this is this world’s magic.  Huh._   She thought rather dumbly as she stared at the pretty fire.

Tsuna jerked awake suddenly and his eyes went wide and he opened his mouth-

Terasu clamped her, (flaming), palms over his mouth and spoke in a soothing voice, “It’s ok, Tsu-nii.  They’re warm, but they’re not really burning, right?”

Of course, that was about the time Tsuna awoke his own Dying Will Flames, and Terasu could see her brother’s eyes go orange and the flame sprout on his forehead.

Tsuna’s eyebrows furrowed, “Tera-chan?” he asked softly, his voice deeper than his normal childish tone.

“It’s alright, Tsu-nii, I think this is something from Iemitsu or something- we’ll figure it out- but I don’t think that we should let anyone know that we know about it yet.  Adults have a way of thinking that us kids are stupid or something, so let’s keep this between us, ok?”

Tsuna nodded slowly, and the two spent the remaining time that their young bodies could handle being in that unrestricted state, (which wasn’t very long), running curious fingers through warm fire that did not burn but rather curled around their playful digits teasingly.

Inside the children, the Hyper Intuition passed down from Sawada Ieyasu, (formerly known as Giotto of the Vongola), _purred_ in satisfaction at finally being _fully awakened_.

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“Catch me if you can, Tsu-nii!” Terasu called over her shoulder as she darted around playground equipment, making sure to go slow enough to keep her brother close enough to keep him from being disheartened but far enough away from her to keep him motivated.

Tsuna’s bright laugh washed over her like a summer breeze in the dead of winter, “Next time- _huff_ \- you’re it, Tera-chan!”

Terasu spun around so that she was running backwards and stuck her tongue out, “Nyah~!  Only if you catch me, Tsu-nii!”

(Since they had awakened their ‘magic flames’ two weeks prior, Terasu had found that she was able to ‘connect’ with them through meditation if they wore themselves out during the day.  So, on top of their dance classes and usual daily activities, they had taken to chasing each other around the local park until their cheeks were flushed and they had to half-carry each other home.  They were young, but their neighborhood was safe enough that they were allowed to stay out until dinner.

Their newfound ability to tell when people were lying to them or when someone was about to hit them seemed to be getting stronger as well.)

There they’d help Mama with housework, do their homework, eat dinner, relax for a while, and then Terasu would try to teach Tsuna how to meditated.

It was……going slowly.

Terasu tripped.

“Got you!” Tsuna shouted gleefully as he tackled her from behind earning a low growl and a breathless laugh.

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Later that evening, Tsuna flopped down on the porch in the Sawada backyard, staring up at the blue sky, letting out an ‘ _oomph_ ’ as his sister’s head connected with his stomach.

“Tera-chan.” Tsuna whined as he reached down to thread his fingers through his sister’s tangled raven locks.

“Aw, suck it up, Tsu-nii.” Terasu pointed out cheerfully, “We almost had it that time!  We don’t want to draw any attention to ourselves while Otou-san is here, you know!”

Tsuna groaned and lolled his head back fully, eyes falling to half-mast as he slipped into a thoughtful state, where it was just the sky and his fingers in Tera-chan’s hair.

_I have the greatest sister in the world.  Tera-chan is smarter, faster, and stronger, but she’s looks at me like I’m the greatest thing ever and she really believes it.  I don’t ever want to let her down._ The elder Sawada sibling thought fiercely as something burned pleasantly inside him, _I want to be the kind of guy that Tera-chan can depend on._

“You’re doing it!” Terasu burst out excitedly, jerking Tsuna out of his thoughts and causing him to yelp in surprise, “that’s what we’re trying to do and you were doing it!”

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There was something even more broken in their father than there was in their mother, Terasu decided upon meeting for the man for the first time after having assimilated Harry’s memories.

The new aspect of the ‘magic flames’ that the siblings had unlocked that they were calling their ‘Intuition’ had been going _haywire_ around the man.  It was like everything out of his mouth was a lie smothered in contradiction and lightly splattered in truth.

It was maddening and gave them migraines.

Terasu hadn’t liked the way the man had needled Tsuna for taking dance classes with her over dinner that night though, even though Mama had explained that Tsu-nii was only taking them because Terasu had refused to go by herself.  Otou-san had still picked on Tsuna about it.  He hadn’t been particularly mean, but it was like he didn’t understand that Tsuna took every word he said as gospel since the man was _never home_ and rarely ever called, and Tsuna had drawn further and further into himself which had only made Iemitsu laugh boisterously about his ‘shy, cute little Tuna-Fish’ and Mama giggle while Terasu had _seethed_.

She only kept her mouth shut due to Tsuna’s desperate look in her direction.

So, now with the house quiet and dark, she padded quietly to her brother’s room quietly slithering inside and quickly crossing and slipping into bed with Tsuna.

Tsuna, who was curled up into a protective ball with dried tear tracks on his face.

(Terasu’s Will flared and she forcefully marshalled it, she didn’t want to take any chances with Otou-san right now.)

She curled around her brother and ran gentle fingers through his fluffy hair, humming a tuneless song to soothe both of them as he slowly relaxed into her.

“You and me against the world, Tsu-nii.” She murmured gently as she fell asleep curled protectively around her brother.

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Terasu’s overall opinion of her father did not improve over the next several days as the man lazed about the Sawada home in his underwear drinking alcohol while their mother flitted about catering to his every whim.

On an intellectual level that she didn’t fully comprehend but still could make use of, she knew that he worked hard to provide for them and that he was on vacation for the first time in years and so she should cut him some slack.

On just about every other level she just saw a man who made fun of her tenderhearted, wonderful brother for being brave enough to dance with her in public when the man himself was never home and all it did was ignite a feeling of abject loathing in her breast for her father.

(James Potter had been an arrogant toerag as a child and teen, but the man he’d grown to be had died saving Lily and Harry.  Could Iemitsu do the same?)

At night she’d crawl into bed with Tsuna and brush the tears away, whispering how she thought that he was _brave_ and how if _that man_ couldn’t see that then Tsuna didn’t need his approval because Terasu thought that Tsuna was the _best brother ever_ and it was them against the world and no blonde idiot who sent penguin postcards and came home once or twice a decade would change that, even if he did put food on their table.

During the final days of Iemitsu’s visit, his boss came for dinner and everything _changed_.

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Terasu stood in front of the white-haired man with the kind dark eyes and the little voice inside her that had whispered of danger to Tsuna all those weeks ago _bristled_.

_Dumbledore_.  Harry’s memories told her, _all the right intentions behind all the wrong decisions_.  _This one is far more ruthless, be wary, little one_.

“Hello, little ones!  I’ve always thought of Iemitsu as a son, please call me Grandfather- or _Nonno_!” the old man was saying cheerfully as Terasu felt Tsuna shift awkwardly at her side.

(Tsuna really was the _best brother ever_ , he was like a _protective mother dragon_ when he felt like she was being cornered or felt truly uncomfortable, but he never tried to stifle her either.)

Tsuna pasted on a cheerful smile, “It’s nice to meet you, _Nonno_!” he chirped out brightly, before snagging Terasu’s hand and dragging her towards the kitchen.

Iemitsu burst out in an obnoxious laugh, “Haha!  That’s my little Tuna-Fish and my little Princess!  They must be hungrier than I thought!”

Dinner was mostly spent allowing the adults to talk over them and trying to ignore the twinges in their ‘internal lie detectors’ whenever the men spoke.  Whenever they were forced to speak, they tried to keep their answers short and concise, though polite.

When the meal concluded and Nana began bustling around to clear the dishes, Terasu and Tsuna were shooed off outside.

Terasu’s Intuition _roared_ and the girl reached out and grabbed Tsuna.

Without pause she turned to her mother, “Mama?”

Nana stopped what she was doing, “Ara, Tera-chan?”

The girl smiled and kept a tight grip on Tsuna, “We actually need to do our dance stretches and I need Tsu-nii’s help with my summer homework.  May we go upstairs, please?”

The woman smiled warmly, “Sure, Tera-chan!”

Iemitsu protested, “Nana!  Don’t encourage Tuna-Fish to do unmanly things!”

Terasu’s eyes flashed and tears pricked her eyes as three weeks of enduring similar comments being heaped onto her beloved brother by their oblivious father came crashing down on her, “Tsu-nii goes with me so I don’t have go all alone!  He goes because he loves me!  Stop making fun of him for it!” She yelled at the startled man, bowing lightly to Nonno and muttering an apology as she dragged Tsuna out of the room and up the stairs.

They ended up huddled together on Terasu’s bed, the girl crying angry, frustrated into Tsuna’s shirt as her brother tried to soothe her, “It’s alright Tera-chan, I don’t mind, really.  I’d rather go with you to your dance classes and be made fun of than have that idiot like me anyways.  _Please don’t cry, Tera-chan_.”  Tsuna was outright begging by the end, he _really hated_ to see his little sister cry.

Terasu let out a watery giggle and wiped her snotty nose on Tsuna’s shirt, earning a dismayed yelp from the boy.  “Tera-chan.” He whined pitifully, pouting at the snot.

That did it and the girl broke down into still-watery giggles as Tsuna gave her an unimpressed look and grabbed some tissues off the bedside table to wipe off his shirt with, “Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, you _brat_.” He complained.

Really that only made her laugh harder, though she was still crying and hiccuping.  Tsuna gave her a sad smile and pulled her closer to him and gently set to wiping her face clean.  He placed a tissue in front of her nose, “Blow.” He ordered.

Terasu obediently blew her nose and ended up needing a tissue to cough into as well.

“Urk, I _hate_ crying.” She protested when she was semi-cleaned up and composed, flopping back onto her brother and ignoring his squawk of disapproval with the ease of long practice.

“I hate seeing you cry.” Tsuna agreed, “It makes me want to punch something.”

Terasu peeked up at her brother from beneath long, dark lashes, “You don’t even like defending yourself, Tsu.”

Tsuna’s eyebrow rose elegantly, “That doesn’t mean that I don’t have the _manly urge_ to punch the idiot who thinks he can make _my baby sister cry_.”

Terasu looked at Tsuna in something like dumbfounded shock for a moment before she burst out in bright peals of laughter.

“T-that ww-aa-s terr-rr-ible.” She managed through her giggles.

Tsuna grinned unrepentantly down at her, “But it made you laugh.”

“Because it was so bad.” Terasu retorted.

“I like to think it’s just because you can’t appreciate my level of _awesome_ -“

There was a knock on the door.  “May I come in?”

It was _Nonno_.

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Silence reigned in the kitchen for a few moments after the siblings’ departure.

“Iemitsu!” Nana sounded disapproving as she rounded on her shocked husband, “You know that Tsu-kun only goes to those classes because Tera-chan is shy!”

Iemitsu started babbling and Nana started giggling, and Timoteo offered to go check on the siblings in the parent’s stead when it became apparent that the two were lost in their own version of reality.

_Honestly_ , The aged Vongola Don thought exasperatedly as he made his way up the stairs _, they didn’t even think to tell me which room the kids might be in_.  _Iemitsu might be good at his job but he’s more of a crazyish rich uncle than a father._   Timoteo came to a stop outside one of the doors that he could hear voice just beyond.

_The little girl is crying_.  Timoteo noted sadly, he’d always wanted a daughter, but he had only been blessed with sons.  The aged Don pressed his ear to the door and listened, his lips curling into something fond and warm without his permission as he listened to the siblings banter.  Finally deciding that he’d listened long enough, he knocked on the door, “May I come in?”

“Y-yes.”  _That’s the brother._

Timoteo pushed the door open and was immediately struck with a sensation of _warmth_.

The walls were a golden hue that was comforting as opposed to overwhelming and there were various creatures- such as phoenix or unicorns or dragons- painted at random places all over them.  It obviously hadn’t been done professionally, but you could tell that the work had been done carefully and it added a certain amount of charm to the room.  There was a bookshelf and a desk on one wall, a window taking up another, with a closet on the remaining wall to round out the edges of the room.  The bed in the middle of the room was where the siblings were- piled on top of one another- and it was a rather simple western-styled frame bed.

All in all there was nothing overwhelming striking about the room, but there was a sense of _warmth_ to it that Timoteo immediately connected to Sun Flames.

The children wriggled around to sit up on their knees, “Hello _Nonno,_ ” they chorused, “We apologize for our ill manners at dinner.” Then they bowed as low as they could without falling of the bed.

Timoteo laughed and waved a genial hand at them as he pulled out the desk chair and settled in front of them, “Think nothing of it, children.  I raised four boys, you wouldn’t believe the trouble that they raised at some points.”

The girl- Terasu- shuffled forward, bright green eyes shining with excitement, “Oooh, can you tell us a story, _Nonno_?”

(And that is how Terasu and Tsuna found out about the incident involving Federico, uncooked pasta noodles, and the Bedici Company Representative.  Apparently, Vongola never has restored relations with that company.)

When the time came for Timoteo to depart, he focused his Sky Flame onto his finger and began to guide it towards the boy’s- Tsuna’s- forehead, as he’d seen the boy’s eyes flash orange a few times when Timoteo had outright lied.

Tsuna was looking at him curiously, (it wasn’t uncommon for people to poke other people’s foreheads in Japan), but the girl’s tiny hand came up to wrap around Timoteo’s wrist in a loose, gentle grip- but the look in her eyes was _fierce_.

“He’s my brother.” She said lowly.  “He’s my big brother and _nobody_ gets to hurt him.”

Maybe Timoteo would have justified himself or been offended, but his Sky Ring _pulsed_ when she said those words- and somewhere inside him they _rang true_ in such a way that he could not bring himself continue.

Timoteo lowered his hand and Tsuna smiled at him- genuine and bright and brilliant- and Timoteo _knew_ that he’d made the correct decision, damn Iemitsu’s sensibilities.

(Timoteo Vongola was a failure as a father, but in that moment he was a True Grandfather and Sawada Tsunayoshi and Sawada Terasu would never forget that.)

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Timoteo watched his Outside Advisor act like a doofy idiot as they waited for the jet to finish its last minute checks.

Lost in thought, he was almost surprised by the tug on his pants, and he ignored the piercing stare he could feel coming from Coyote Nougat, “Yes, Terasu?”

The little girl had warmed up to him since that evening, “You should tell whoever it is the truth.”

Timetoe looked at her strangely, “Hmm?”

Terasu’s green eyes were sharp and once again Timoteo was struck by just how _blind_ Iemitsu was to things that occurred under his own roof, “I don’t _know_.”  She huffed, “But you should be honest.  Like, really bluntly terribly honest before they do something irreparable.”

The aged Don’t eyes sharpened, “Terasu…”

The girl shook her head, dark curls flying in every direction, “I can only feel echoes ‘cause I’ve been so close to you, _Nonno_.  But, I really feel like you’re being soft when you’re supposed to be hard, if that makes any sense.  Don’t take too long though, alright?”

Timoteo crouched down to be eye-level with the girl, “You’re kind of a scary girl, you know that, Terasu-chan?”

The girl grinned cheekily, “I just take after you, _Nonno_.”

“Right?” Tsuna said, having apparently slipped away from the insanity that was Iemitsu as well.

Timoteo reached out and ruffled Tsuna’s fluffy brown hair, “Be careful you two.”

They smiled, “We well, _Nonno._ ”

“Tuna-Fish!  Princess!  Come see Daddy!” Iemitsu wailed from a little further away.

Terasu sighted, “Are you sure we’re related?” she muttered.

Timoteo laughed warmly as he rose back up to his full height and unapologetically shooed them back towards the CEDEF head, “Go on you two.”

With many grumbles, they did.

(Later that night when Nana was crying herself to sleep in her lonely bed that still smelled of her husband down the hall, the siblings were talking about how they felt guilty about feeling so grateful that the man was gone.)

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Meanwhile, in Italy, Timoteo waited in a training room for his youngest son and pondered over his decision to not inform Iemitsu about his children’s potential.  Before Timoteo could come to a full decision on the matter, a bored-looking sixteen year old Xanxus stepped into the training room and Terasu’s words were echoing through Timoteo’s mind.

“Lock this room down and leave us.” The old man ordered firmly, his stern gaze cutting through any protests that his Guardians might have had, and this training room didn’t have any surveillance equipment.

Xanxus raised an eyebrow, “What’s all this shit, old man?”

Timoteo looked his son squarely in the eye, “I fully expect you to be angry and lash out at me Xanxus, but I want you to listen.  I adopted you because I wanted to, even though I’d never seen your mother before that day.  No one else knows, but I imagine your brothers somewhat suspect.  You can’t technically inherit the Vongola, but I always intended you to have the Varia.  You are _my son_ and I am telling you this now because you deserve to know.”

Sometime later, after Timoteo had let Xanxus _rage_ and _rant_ and _snarl_ and _scream_ the young man said one more sentence, “Let me out, you shitty old fart.”

Timoteo wanted to talk this out, to assure his son that he _loved_ him, but Terasu’s words rang through him and he wondered at his sanity when he was taking advice from a six-year-old, “Alright.  This is your home, Xanxus.  Whenever you’re ready.”

“Che, whatever.”

Timoteo still wondered at the gentle thrum of his Intuition as he watched his youngest walk away.

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	3. Chapter 3

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Their father left and their mother became increasingly despondent, so Tsuna’s birthday was largely celebrated just between the siblings.

January came and they chose their dance disciplines: Formal Dance, (which taught you the dances for formal dinner parties and such), Folk Dance, and Modern Dance.

Formal Dance wasn’t overly rigorous and only held twice a week, but you were required to take a corresponding Etiquette Course alongside it, which took up plenty of time in its own right.  Folk dance took up their entire Saturday afternoon on top of the thrice-weekly classes, and Modern dance was pretty much rebellious ballet with freedom of expression thrown in, so they had it thrice-weekly, and _Sunday_ afternoon.

(Folk Dance introduced them to a wide variety of folk styles, and they could narrow down their choices further next quarter.  She would allow Tsuna a little time to think that she _wasn’t interested_ in learning how to dance with fans and in traditional kimono, he deserved that much.)

So, the siblings didn’t have a whole lot of ‘free’ time, but they were enjoying themselves _immensely_.

(Terasu was selfishly glad that they were out of the house a lot, because it forced Mama would go visit friends.  She loved Mama, but Sawada Nana was content in her life and had no desire to change, despite the siblings’ willingness to help her.  Mama’s pain made _Tsuna sad_ , which made _Terasu angry_ because Mama _could make changes_ , but Nana loved Iemitsu and was afraid to lose him, so she _chose_ not to.

Tsuna didn’t have the benefit of Harry’s experiences or a ghostly-Hermione’s fireside chats, so if he spent too much time around Mama, he’d start to feel like he wasn’t good enough because he wasn’t Iemitsu.  Terasu _hated_ that Mama loved them and hurt them in the same breaths, but acknowledged to herself that at least Mama was _faithful_ once she put her mind to something.

Still, it made Terasu _angry,_ and the girl tried to keep herself and Tsuna busy.)

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Being shoved into an alleyway by jerks was not how Terasu had predicted her and Tsuna’s walk home from dance would go, but Terasu had come to the conclusion that people were _stupid_.

Of course, she’d originally come to that conclusion when she’d still been _Harry_.  The fact had been especially poignant for her, (him), when she’d been standing in Professor McGonagall’s office after defeating a Basilisk with a lost heirloom, and the Headmaster had been more concerned with the story of _how_ as opposed to making sure she wasn’t still _dying_.

Still, when those _morons_ had tried to grab her Tsu-nii and shove something over his mouth, her temper had _snapped_.

(She hadn’t known that there had been another kid there until it was all over.)

Terasu had fought a war as Harry Potter, so even with her being limited by her new body, she still had managed to deal out a great deal of damage to the attackers before they’d fully realized that she wasn’t playing the ‘meek, scared little girl’ anymore.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t much she could do after the element of surprise was lost, even with her past knowledge and her little inside voice whispering words of wisdom inside her mind.  Not that this was entirely a bad thing, because as soon as one of them grabbed her and made her cry out in pain Tsu-nii had come unglued _in the best way possible._

So, it was Terasu and Tsuna against the world.  Back-to-back with their blood roaring in their ears, as they stumbled and skidded but never faltered as the five fully grown, armed adults bore down on them.

Terasu grunted in muted pain as a line of agony flared to life across her back.  Not two seconds later, Tsuna shoved her down and screamed breathlessly as a shot rang out and blood trickled down onto her.

_Tsu-nii….._

Terasu and Tsuna hadn’t been fully using their magic fire, as it tired them out quite quickly, but Terasu couldn’t do anything to mitigate the burning inferno that roared to life at the thought of _Tsu-nii being hurt_.

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_In Their Realm, Death sensed the disturbance from their little Debt and smiled._

_Death and Life were intrinsically, irrevocably connected.  Without Death there was no Life and without Life there was no Death.  Eternally locked in a dance of hope and despair, the two Forces of Nature existed in and on every world, at every time, and within every space._

_There were some creatures, however, who were allowed to interfere._

_Such as Phoenixes._

_Phoenixes, who were allowed to be born and die without losing their self, and heal not only the physical plane’s ailments but also what cannot be touched by mortal hands.  Phoenix Song can uplift a soul or shatter it.  Phoenix Tears can heal or they can poison.  The glorious birds are only known as a single species because there is no such thing as a ‘good Phoenix’ or a ‘bad Phoenix’- just a Phoenix using their power as they saw fit._

_Harry Potter had been healed by a Phoenix, and those Tears were the true reason why he had been able to keep the soul shard of the one born as Tom Riddle at bay.  Since Fawkes could not destroy the shard without destroying the boy, the Firebird had poured enough Healing Tears into the boy to help the boy’s own willpower hold it in that little corner of his own bright, untainted soul._

_When Death called in Their Debt, the Tears were still within Harry’s soul, and without needing to constantly support the boy’s failing human body, the undiluted, undistracted power of the Tears folded into the purified soul of the child that Fawkes had chosen to save._

_Harry had always had a ‘saving people thing’, and in this Life, Terasu wouldn’t be dependent on someone else to save her loved ones.  If Death had stacked the deck in her favor?  She had earned it, and she’d have to figure it all out on her own, anyways._

_Death and Life were intrinsically, irrevocably connected, after all.  If Death wanted Their little one to spread Life, who would dare call Them on such a thing?_

_Besides, people didn’t run from Death when they had things they were willing to die for, and they also didn’t run from Life when they had things that they were willing to live for- which meant that everybody would win._

_Lives well lived always made the best Deaths, after all._

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Terasu’s magic was a deeper color this time, more of a golden hue.

She gently rolled Tsu-nii off of her and time seemed to slow to almost _nothing_.

_1……_

She moved and viciously tore a knife from one of their attackers and plunged it through their throat.

_2….._

The next one had a gun, but Terasu brought her foot down, (as she simply knew to do), and shattered the arm holding it without pause, turning gracefully and smashing her foot into the attacker’s face.

_3……..4……._

The next two were just a blur of blood and blows.

_5…….._

The fifth one was able to move, and seemed to have the same type of aura that she did.

_A magic user then_.

Terasu had no trouble evading the bullets at first, and she followed the whispered intrusions _to keep Tsuna out of his line  of sight_ , and  _herd the target away from the group towards the mouth of the alleyway_.

But there had been a reason that she and Tsuna had been fighting without their magic, and soon her magic began to flicker erratically as it always did when she was nearing her limit.

_Not yet,_ she thought desperately, knowing that it was her magic that was keeping Tsu-nii from bleeding out _, please just a little longer_!

Time, however, was not _kind_ , and things began to speed up as her vision began to blur.

The man, ( _target_ ), had run out of bullets and pulled out a knife, and Terasu _knew_ that she was going to die.

_Already happened once_ , she thought as a savage grin wove its way onto her mouth, _but I’ll take this bastard with me_.  “I’m going to see Padfoot.” She told the man in perfect English as blood oozed out of her mouth, “But I’ll make sure I take you with me.”

Terasu called up every ounce of her willpower and threw herself forward with the fiercest warcry she could muster.

She managed to evade the first strike as she entered the man’s personal space, but took a sharp blow to the ribs when she’d twisted too slowly.  Terasu pushed forward, weaving almost drunkenly as she flared her Will higher.

Then she stumbled and the man’s knife was coming down in an almost elegant arc and _she couldn’t_ -

_Sorry, Tsu.  I hope you make it._   She thought sadly as the deadly metal closed in on her.

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Gesso Byakuran had been having a normal day before he’d been tackled by the strange red-head with green eyes and glasses.

“Please, they’re going to kill them!  Please, you have to help!” The boy pleaded with the ten-year old.

Well, _normal_ was another word for _boring_ , and he had a while before his family’s retainers finally caught him, so Byakuran _supposed_ that he could help the crybaby.  “Who?”

The boy looked relieved, “No one else would believe me!”  He babbled as he grabbed Byakuran’s hand and started dragging him in the opposite direction, “They just looked at me weird and dismissed me!  I don’t understand!”

Byakuran’s purple eyes narrowed as he followed the other boy, his mother’s lessons allowing him to pick up the traces of Mist Flames.  _Someone covered this entire area with Mist Flames, that must have been why none of them listened to Red._ Byakuran’s eyes narrowed even further as he considered the implications.  The boy wasn’t leading him into a trap, that much he was sure of- Red was genuinely terrified for whoever it was that had been left behind.

Just then there was a wild surge of Flames and Byakuran’s _breath caught_.

Oh, this was _interesting_.

“That’s coming from the alley where I had to leave them!” Red cried in panicked dismay.

Byakuran started running.

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When he burst around the corner, the Gesso Heir saw four downed adults, a child-sized body encased in most beautiful, interesting Sun Flames he’d ever seen, and a man bring down a knife on a dark haired child who had to be responsible for the downed adults as they were covered in blood.

That also made them the most likely source of the beautiful, interesting Flames- which meant that Byakuran wasn’t going allow them to die.

Byakuran smoothly slipped open the butterfly knife his mother had given him and planted into the back of the man’s neck, making sure to twist him in such a way that he missed the child.

When he turned back around Red was already kneeling in front of the child, “Are you alright?” Red asked worriedly.

The child blinked slowly, “You’re not Padfoot.” they stated rather matter-of-factly in English.

Byakuran noted that the child was female and had the most brilliant green eyes he’d ever seen.

Red looked bewildered, “N-N-o I’m Irie Shōichi.  Those men tried to grab the three of us at the same time, and I managed to get away.” Red took on a pained expression, “I’m useless in a fight, so I went to get help- but-“

Suddenly life seemed to come back to the girl as she jerked forward, (ignoring Red’s protests), and stumbled towards the other child, “Tsu-nii!” the girl cried out in Japanese, “Tsu!”  She reached through the beautiful Flames and began to pat at the other child worriedly, “Tsuna-nii, wake up!” She demanded tearfully.

“Te-era-ch-aa-an.” The other child rasped out, slowly blinking warm brown eyes open.  “Tera-chan.”

The girl actually burst out into tears, “Tsu-nii!  You’re alright!”

“I’m fine, Tera-chan!  Whatever you did took care of everything!  I promise!  Please don’t cry!” The other babbled out rapidly, looking to Red for help as the blood-stained  girl buried her face in his chest and cried.

“I got caught with you guys, but I’m useless in a fight, so I went to get help.” Red repeated to the brown-haired boy.  “No one would believe me though, until him.”  Red pointed at Byakuran.  “He saved her, if he hadn’t come with me….” Red trailed off uncomfortably as he started crying as well.

“Hi!” Byakuran said cheerfully, “I’m Gesso Byakuran!  We should probably get out of here before the Mist Flames fade completely.”

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Tsuna remembered throwing himself over Terasu and the pain as the bullet ripped through him.  After that it was kind of blurry for a bit, but then warmth- like his sister’s smile after a bad day at school or waking up to find her cuddled up next to him- had engulfed him and all the pain had disappeared.

When he’d come to, Terasu had been covered in blood and there had been bodies and strangers in the alleyway, but all that had mattered was that his baby sister was _bleeding_ and _crying._

Tsuna listened to the red-head and when the white-haired boy, who was a little older than them, suggested they leave, Tsuna’s Intuition had agreed.  “Alright.  I’m Sawada Tsunayoshi, please call me Tsuna.” He said with a calm he definitely wouldn’t be feeling later, “How can we get out of here without getting caught.  Tera-chan is injured.”

Byakuran smiled, “This way!”

“You’re coming, too, right Red?” Tsuna asked.

The red-head’s eyes widened, “O-oh n-o.” He said shakily.

Tsuna cut him off with a gentle, but firm, “You went and got help, if you hadn’t Tera-chan would have-“ His voice faltered and he tightened his grip on his sister, “You’ll come with us.” He said firmly.

He got a hesitant nod in return, and the white-haired Byakuran looked like _Tanabata_ had decided to make an early appearance.

Tsuna stood and nodded sharply, “Lead the way, Gesso-san.”

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Byakuran led them to an apartment complex and, bypassing the front desk staff, punched in a set of numbers on the main computer.  He’d also whipped out a cellphone and been talking in rapid-fire Italian, (Shōichi had muttered that it was Italian, but it was too fast for the red-headed boy to make it out), the entire walk.

Eventually, after an elevator ride and some more walking, Byakuran let them inside an apartment.  “My mother’s people will take care of the bodies.” The boy said blithely, “For now, let’s get her cleaned up and you all into some clean clothes.”

Still riding the almost unnatural calm he was wrapped inside and noting that his Intuition wasn’t flaring, Tsuna had merely nodded.  “I should call our Mama and tell her that we’re at a friend’s house.” He said by way of reply.

Byakuran had handed him a phone.

“I-I should call my Mom, too.” Shōichi muttered.

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Tsuna sat back with Byakuran and watched Shōichi and Terasu perform.

In the nearly six months since they had met Byakuran and Shōichi, after that terrifying experience in that dank alleyway,  Tsuna could say that he honestly enjoyed the company of the other two boys, despite the circumstances that led to their associations.

Byakuran’s family had found out that the people had actually been after Shōichi, and Tsuna and Terasu had just been caught up in the attack by bad luck.  The Gesso Heir himself had been absolutely magnificent through the nightmares and trauma that had come about as a result of the fallout of the incident, his ability to sweet-talk convincing Mama and Shōichi’s Mom that nothing was wrong and allowing the kids to keep everything a secret.

Byakuran had also told them about their Flames and was teaching them how to use them, but he only had so much information, as both the Gesso Heir’s parents were trying to keep him shielded from the Mafia.  That didn’t mean that they were suffering, however, as Terasu’s ideas seemed to only fan the flame of Byakuran’s interest higher, and they were currently trying to make their Flames form into animal shapes while being held in their hands.

Soon, the new friends had found that Shōichi loved music _almost_ as much as Terasu loved dance, and Byakuran and Shōichi had mysteriously ended up in all of Terasu and Tsuna’s dance classes shortly thereafter.  Byakuran, being a few years older, was more of an assistant and soon had grown bored of repetitive lessons- which was about the time that Terasu had suggested that they start performing.

Byakuran had naturally loved this idea, and so when the summer had fully come and school had ended, (along with Terasu’s birthday, she was seven now!), the Gesso Heir had made sure they had all the proper permits to perform at the local park.

This was why Byakuran and Tsuna were sitting on the grass while Terasu danced and Shōichi played his instruments.

They had a little donation box, but mostly they were just play acting for each other as Byakuran and Tsuna would pick the dances or songs they wanted the two to perform and left the other two to things.  Oh, Tsuna still had to dance his fair share, but he enjoyed watching Terasu and Shōichi too.

“We should have them do a whole play next break.” Byakuran said thoughtfully as he munched on some Pocky, “That way they can practice throughout the term and we can enjoy a complete performance.”

“Hm, we’d need more people.”

Byakuran waved a negligent hand, “People are no issue.  Hm, perhaps we should wait until next summer and have them do something bigger.”

“Like what?”

“ _The King and I_ is one of my mother’s favorite plays, which means she would be more than happy to assist with a reproduction of it, but perhaps _Peter Pan_ would be best for break.” The Gesso Heir mused aloud.

Tsuna felt something akin to exasperated fondness bubble up in his chest, “Not everything has to be done in an entirely over-the-top manner, ‘Kuran-kun.”

That earned him a raised eyebrow and a haughty look, “If something is worth doing it’s worth doing _well_ , Tsu-chan.” Byakuran sniffed imperiously, brandishing a Pocky stick at the other grandly, “Besides, Siam had some stunning fashions during that time period- wouldn’t you like to see you sister in some lovely costumes fit for a Queen?”

“Tera-chan _is_ a Queen.” Tsuna shot back loyally.

“ _Precisely_.”  A pleased smile sprawled across Byakuran’s lips, “So, next summer?”

Tsuna turned to look at Terasu and Shōichi, who were packing up their small stage and equipment, “Next summer.” He agreed, giving Byakuran a shove to try and knock down the level of smugness the other boy begun to exude.

Like always, it was a rather pointless gesture.

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One of the things that Terasu truly appreciated about Gesso Byakuran and Irie Shōichi, was that despite them being geniuses in their own right, they never made her or Tsuna feel stupid.

Sometimes they’d get lost in their own world of technobabble and math and science and strategy, but they never seemed to mind having to backtrack and explain things to Terasu or Tsuna.  Actually, they both seemed to enjoy Tsuna and Terasu’s viewpoints on matters and could care less for their class rankings.

It was probably why she had let Byakuran talk her into performing _Peter Pan_ and telling her mother, who had told friends.

So now their little play had a decent-sized audience.

Terasu settled against Tsuna as he wrapped a warm arm around her, “You and me against the world, Tera-chan.” He whispered into her hair.

“What am I?  Old sushi?” Byakuran pouted as he popped up at her other side and draped an arm over her as well.

“Yeah, that’s not very nice, Tsu-kun.” Shōichi teased playfully as he came to a stop in front of them.  “How could you forget about the guy who composes your theme music?”

Terasu laughed brightly and relaxed back against Byakuran and Tsuna, “Can’t forget that guy.” She agreed with a grin.

“ _Hmph_.” Byakuran huffed in amusement, “Sure, remember _him_ , but I’m the one who makes sure that our story isn’t _boring._ ”

Terasu laughed again, and she relaxed further.  “I’m really glad you guys are our friends.” She said sincerely as she made eye contact with Shōichi and then Byakuran, “You’re the _greatest_.”

Byakuran tensed for a moment and Shōichi looked like he might cry, but Tsuna added, “Yeah.  Really, guys- you’re the best, best friends _ever._ ”

The stage manager, (someone Byakuran had hired), called them to their places, so they quickly broke apart and rushed to make sure that they were ready.

The curtain went up, and the audience fell silent.

_This was it._

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Surprisingly, their little play had been rather popular, and Byakuran’s mother had seen one of the recordings, so she had been more than happy to support them in their summer production of _The King and I_.

Terasu had planned on dropping one of her dance classes, (well _their_ dance classes, as all four friends were still attending them together), only to find that their teacher had been sweet-talked into lending the class to the production.

(She tried to shove Byakuran hard enough to shake some of the smugness out of him, but it was a lot cause.)

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Sawada Nana hummed happily to herself as she flittered about preparing food for Tsu-kun and Tera-chan’s little event.

Since they’d become friends with Bya-kun and Shō-kun the Sawada siblings had been incredibly busy.  In deference for the two boys taking dance with them, Tsu-kun and Tera-chan had taken up music lessons for Shō-kun, while Bya-kun usually just thought up things like this for them to do.

Nana giggled slightly as she thought about all the hijinks that Bya-kun had gotten her children into over the past year.  It was good for them to act their age sometimes.

The Sawada matriarch sighed as she thought about her latest conversation with Iemitsu.  The man wanted her to tell the children that he had gone to become a star, and as romantic as Nana found him and his way of thinking, she didn’t think that her children would agree.

_No_ , she thought firmly as she rolled the dough, _I’ll just tell them that Tou-san has gone to a place that doesn’t have much technology and he won’t be coming home for a long time_.

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Terasu took a deep breath as she stood in front of the mirror in her dressing room.

Byakuran had rented a moving stage, (like the kind musicians used), and they had been practicing for _months_ but Terasu was nervous.

The door opened- they were using one of the park buildings as a staging area- and in walked her brother and two best friends.  “Tera-chan!  Are you ready?”

“I think I’m going to be sick.”  The almost-eight-year-old moaned, Shōichi echoed her sentiments.

Terasu found herself wrapped up in Byakuran’s arms, “You will be _magnificent_ , little Queen.” He whispered, before releasing her and letting Tsuna take his place.

“Listen to your big brothers, Tera-chan.” Tsuna murmured to her affectionately, “We know these things.  Besides, ‘Kuran-kun and I will be performing with you, and Shō-kun with be with the orchestra the entire time.”

“That’s right, we might have different roles to play, but we’re all still in this together.” Shōichi muttered, still looking a bit nauseous.

“Right.” Terasu breathed out slowly, “Us against the world.”

Byakuran smirked, Tsuna smiled, and Shōichi grinned, “Us against the world.” They agreed.

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_The King and I_ was an incredible success, and they ended up holding shows longer than they had planned.

Well, longer than Shōichi, Tsuna, and Terasu had planned; Byakuran had apparently predicted their crack success and had planned accordingly.

However, with a name like that, it caught the interest of a certain bratty Prince who happened to be in town getting some world-famous- literally- TakeSushi.

Prince the Ripper or Prince Belphegor sat in the audience, wondering if he would need to show these peasants a thing or two about lying to royalty when the show started and the main actors were _brats_.

Belphegor blithely ignored the hypocrisy of his thoughts.  Princes were without Peer, so age meant nothing.

The Prince was pleasantly surprised with the quality of the play, especially considering that it was merely a summer project for some _brats_.

What intrigued the Prince the most, however, was the bearing of the little Queen who made the entire play seem magical.

Hmm, it was running for a few more weeks, and Lussuria would certainly enjoy the exquisite designs of the costumes.

Perhaps he should drag the Sun Guardian and Mammy with him when he came to pick up his sushi order?

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	4. Chapter 4

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It was shortly after the final curtain call for their production of _The King and I_ , and Terasu had just parted from the others so that she could change.

She had only been in her dressing room long enough to start gathering the normal clothes that she had selected for their pre-planned celebration dinner- an outfit that Mama had gotten her for her eighth birthday, which had been just a few weeks prior, along with some _amazing_ shoes that ‘Kuran-kun had gifted her at the same time- when the door burst open unceremoniously.  A man- or teenager in their late teens- with red sunglasses and a rather unique sense of style strolled inside, followed by a teen whose fringe completely obscured his eyes, and a floating baby, of all things.

“Darling~!”  The uniquely-styled man sang as he flounced closer and one of them shut the door behind them.  “Your costumes were simply divine~!  Who designed them?”

Terasu, having been friends with Byakuran Gesso for nearly a year by this point, simply ignored the oddities and replied gamely.  “My friends and I designed them, but the family who owns a kimono shop did all the stitching and gave us a few fabric recommendations.”

“Well, kudos to you and your friends, not to mention the ones who did the needlework!”  The man all but cooed as he circled Terasu and ran a critical gaze over her outfit.  “Because this work is _flawless_!  The stitching is _amazing_!”

“Thank you.”  Terasu said politely letting the man fiddle with the hem of her costume.  “May I ask what your name is so I might tell them who appreciated their hard work?”

Than man smiled sunnily at her and rested his hands on his hips.  “Aren’t you a little gem?  I’m Lussuria-“  He pointed to the blonde teen, “-that is  Prince Bel-“ He pointed to the baby, who was being held by the teen, who had taken a seat on the couch.  “-and that is Mammon, sweetheart.”

“It’s very nice to meet you.”  She told them with a bright smile and slight bow in each of their directions, falling into a deeper one for Prince Bel.  “I’m Sawada Terasu.”

The blonde teen- _Bel_ \- suddenly cackled with delight.  “Ushishishi .  See, Mammy?  I _told_ you she was a little Queen!”

“Hmph.  Indeed.”

“Well, darling you must be _exhausted_ , but do tell me the name of the shop that did the needlework.”  Lussuria said.  “Oooh!  And let me give you my card!  I want to know when you start planning your next play so I can help with the costumes~!”

Terasu didn’t need her Intuition to know this man was _dangerous_ when crossed, but she wasn’t sensing that he was immediate threat.  He seemed to have a sense of style, as well.  “Let me give you my contact information as well.”  She replied regally grabbing a pen and a piece of paper from the desk. 

A few moments later the information had been exchanged and Lussuria air-kissed her cheek before bouncing back out of the door.  “Ta, lovely~!”

_Well, that was certainly an experience_.  Terasu thought wryly as the door shut behind her visitors.

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Byakuran had gotten a disturbingly interested look on his face when Terasu had told her friends, (and brother), about her strange dressing-room crashers.

“Lussuria, you say?”  Byakuran said with an increasingly unsettling grin on his face as Terasu finished her story and handed him Lussuria’s card.  “ _How curious_.”

Shōichi clutched at his stomach and Tsuna let out a pained moan.

Terasu began to wonder if she’d somehow catalyzed the apocalypse.

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Their summer performance of _The King and I_ had garnered them a fair bit of attention from the citizens of Namimori, but they were far from being actual celebrities.  They would get recognized occasionally, but it was mostly Terasu that people wanted to speak with or compliment, which was fine with the boys.

Byakuran had found out from his mother that he would soon be going to Italy- after the school year finished- to learn how to run his father’s businesses and that had put the Gesso Heir in a _foul_ mood.  Shōichi didn’t really like to make conversation with people he didn’t know, and Tsuna was far more likely to talk about Terasu than himself.

So, poor Terasu was usually used as a decoy by the others.

She silently swore vengeance.  On _all_ of them.

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Tsuna and Terasu were walking down a quiet side street, leisurely making their way home from school on a beautiful October afternoon.  The trees were starting to turn colors and the wind held the barest traces of the approaching winter’s cold, but it was still fairly warm outside, seeing as how Tsuna’s ninth birthday was a little over a week ago and it usually didn’t start to turn _cold_ , cold until at least a few weeks after Byakuran’s birthday.

With Tsuna and herself being third-year elementary students, they were enjoying their last year without afternoon classes.  In their school, years one through three had only morning classes, while years four through six held classes until about three-thirty in the afternoon.  Of course, the Sawada siblings weren’t spending their afternoons idly, and this was the only day in their week that _didn’t_ have an extracurricular activity. 

Between their dance classes and their music classes, they only had Tuesdays- which was what today was- entirely free after school.  Usually the Sawada siblings would head over to Shōichi’s house- which was the mid-way point between their schools- to wait for Byakuran and Shōichi to get out of school, so they could do their homework together and then goof off the rest of the evening- that is to say, they’d experiment with their Flames all evening. 

However, Shōichi and Byakuran went to a _very elite_ school and the academic program was far more rigorous than most elementary schools.  While they were only two years older than Tsuna, with Shōichi’s birthday being the third of December, and Byakuran’s being the twenty-eighth of October, (exactly two weeks after Tsuna’s birthday), due to their intelligence, both boys were in their last year of elementary school. 

The exams they would take in March would determine what middle school they could apply for _-_ even though Byakuran was moving to Italy and would have to take the Italian placement tests, his parents still expected him to do well in his exams-and Shōichi’s parents expected him to attend Yumei Private Middle School, which had some of the harshest acceptance criteria in their prefecture.

Terasu hopped up on the guard rail and shifted her messenger bag slightly to compensate for its weight as she began to carefully place one foot in front of the other in a rather delicate balancing act.  “Did you get a hold of the others?”  She asked her brother curiously.

Tsuna, who had absently held out a hand for Terasu to use to steady herself, nodded.  “Yep!”  He told her cheerfully, “They said that their prep class was going to last until five, and that they were crashing at ‘Kuran’s house.  Shō-kun said that we could come, but that their mid-terms are next week and they would be studying all evening.”

“That _sucks_.”  Terasu commented sourly as she made her way along the railing.  “We should probably just let them study tonight and see them tomorrow in our lessons.” She added a few moments later, pouting briefly at their ‘unstructured fun time’ being interrupted.

Tsuna grinned up at her and opened his mouth to reply, only to be cut off by a childish voice full of scorn.  “Well, well, well.  What do we have _here_?”

Tsuna and Terasu’s heads both snapped up in surprise, and they inwardly groaned at the sight of the semi-circle of people that had formed around them.

The railing that Terasu was walking along had transitioned to being the railing of a bridge, which meant that the eight people who had cornered them were blocking the other three directions.  There were two girls in the group, but the three ‘core members’ of the entourage were the three students that had tried to bully Tsuna on Terasu’s first day of school, and had been a persistent thorn in the Sawada sibling’s sides ever since.

“What do you _morons_ want?”  Terasu asked in an insincerely polite voice as she hopped down off of the railing to flank Tsuna.

Idiot Boy Number One sneered at her, “You think you’re something _special_ , don’t you?”

Idiot Girl Number One chimed in and cut the boy off.  “Yeah, just because you wore some pretty clothes and put some makeup on doesn’t make you a lady.”

Terasu blinked slowly and tried to process that mangled sentence.  Tsuna’s face scrunched up in incomprehension.  “Huh?”  He said, giving the girl a weird look.

Idiot Girl Number Two huffed and tossed her dark hair over her should imperiously.  “What Ami means, Dame-Tsuna, is it’s a good thing that your sister knows how to dress up and _pretend_ to be a lady.”

Idiot Boy Number Three broke in.  “Because she’ll need to know how to pretend so she can continue the _family tradition_.”

Terasu’s insides went cold and Tsuna’s muscles began to stiffen under the calming hand she’d laid on his arm.

“Yeah.”  Idiot Boy Number Four broke in with a malicious smile.  “After all the women of your family are known for their skills in marrying rich _gaijin_.”

“It’s all they’re good for.”  Idiot Number Three continued nastily.  “Being _trophies_ for _outsiders_ -“

Tsuna moved and Terasu was only a heartbeat behind.  “ _Shut up_!”  Tsuna roared, tears pricking his eyes.  “Shut up!  Mama and Tera-chan aren’t trophies!”

Terasu and Tsuna fought fiercely, but it was _hard_ because it was two against eight, and both Sawada siblings were afraid of accidentally killing their stupid, but young opponents.

The Sawada siblings were a bit worse for the wear- Terasu had taken a kick to the abdomen and Tsuna was sporting a busted lip and swelling eye- when a rather aristocratic voice broke through the melee.

“Ushishishi, it looks as if some _ignorant peasants_ have dared to harm the Prince’s adorable Little Queen.”

The next thing Terasu and Tsuna knew the bullies were rapidly evacuating the area, with shallow but precise cuts which were bleeding rather freely.

“Hmph.”  The blonde teen with the strange tiara in his hair sniffed disdainfully as he expertly stowed his deceptively delicate-looking knives with a flourish.  “Worthless.  The Prince _despises_ worthless peasants.” 

The blonde’s hair covered his eyes and his upper cheekbones, but Terasu could very nearly feel the weight of the gaze it obscured from the world.  “T-thank you, uhm, Prince Bel?”  She finished off rather uncertainly, a nervous smile playing about her lips.

The Prince’s smile widened, and somehow the gesture made him look less-insane-and-bloodthirsty as opposed to more-insane-and-bloodthirsty.  “Ushishishi, the Prince is pleased.”  A pale hand was extended towards the female Sawada, which she accepted easily.

“Thank you.”  She said with a polite little curtsy, (she felt that the blonde would appreciate the gesture more than a bow), and turned around to assist her brother.

“Thank you.”  Tsuna mumbled, bowing a bit.  His ‘danger’ senses were going haywire and it was distracting him.

“Would you like to accompany us home, Prince Bel?”  Terasu asked politely.  “I’m sure that Mama would like to extend her thanks as well.  It’s Thursday, so she most likely has her amazing _dango_ ready for us at home.”

“Hmph.  The Prince will join you, Little Queen, peasant.”

Terasu beamed a little and bounced over to the blonde.  “Tsuna’s my brother; shouldn’t he be royal as well?”

Bel ensured that Terasu’s dainty hand was tucked securely into the crook of his elbow before he allowed her to lead them towards her home.  “Hardly.  The Little Queen is a Little Queen because she is destined to marry a King.  The fluffy peasant will always be a fluffy peasant.”

Tsuna coked on air behind them, but Terasu laughed brightly and threw her brother a cheeky grin.  “You heard the Prince, Tsuna-nii!  I’m a Queen!”  She turned her amused gaze towards the blonde.  “Ano, Prince Bel, I think that Tsu-nii is more like the dragon that guards the Princess than a peasant.”

The blonde canted his head to the side for a long moment and seemed to glance back towards the flailing, red-faced Tsuna.  “Hmm.  The Prince supposes-“  The blonde began at length, smoothly switching sides with Terasu when they turned a corner and she ended up nearest to the road.  “-that the fluff peasant could serve as the Little Queen’s dragon.”

Tsuna sighed in relief and Terasu giggled.

“-so long as the Fluffy Dragon survives the Princes’ Royal Tutoring.”  The blonde finished in a self-satisfied voice.  “After all, only a Prince such as I could teach the fluffy peasant how to properly guard the Little Queen.”

Tsuna squeaked in horror when Terasu just gave her brother a beatific grin and nodded along.  “I agree.”  She chirped sweetly.

_Tera-chan has spent far too much time around ‘Kuran-kun._   Tsuna thought in horror, as the emphatic feeling of impending doom began to creep up his spine.

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Sawada Nana hummed cheerfully as she flitted around her kitchen, Tera-chan weaving around her mother with the ease of long practice.  Nana took a moment to run gentle fingers through her daughter’s hair and press a warm kiss to her brow before moving over to the cutting board to chop up more vegetables.

The house rattled for a brief moment, causing both Sawada women to blink up at the flickering lights owlishly for a moment before they shared bright grins and continued their dinner preparations.

Outside, Tsuna quickly extricated himself from the Tsuna-shaped hole in the backyard and quickly dived out of the way of the Crazy Princes’ knives.

“Maa, Tsu-chan.”  A very annoying voice called out from the general direction of the back deck.  “You need to move a bit faster.”

Shōichi whimpered.  Tsuna firmly felt that he and the red-head were the only sane people they knew.

“Ushishishi, don’t allow your attention to waver, fluffy peasant.”  The blonde _psycho_ with the _zillion knives_ chided Tsuna in an unfairly _creepy voice_. 

Tsuna yelped and hit the ground in a roll and silently told himself that if he could survive the psycho blonde’s training, than Tsuna would be able to keep Tera-chan and Mama safe.  The brunet placed a hand on the ground and planted his body in a prone position, brown eyes flashing orange as resolve swirled through him and he launched his first counter-attack of the session.

For Tera-chan and Mama.  He thought viciously as he dodged a new volley of knives, slithered around the wire trap that had been attached to them, and threw a punch towards the blonde psycho’s face.

The blonde’s smile widened and something like triumphant satisfaction seemed to thrum through him.  “About time, Fluffy Dragon.”  The blonde told the brunette, evading Tsuna’s punch easily and tossing more knives his way.  “Now we can actually begin.”

Tsuna’s resolve only seemed to flare hotter.  “ _Bring it_.”  He challenged brashly.

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Time slipped by, (sometimes a little faster for poor Tsuna who randomly woke up to his blonde ‘mentor’ launching ‘surprise attacks’), and Christmas flew by with boxed presents and a phone call from their distant father.

By the time Nana came out of her post-call crash it was nearly spring and Tsuna had ‘officially’ graduated from fluffy peasant to Fluffy Dragon. 

Apparently a Fluffy Dragon was a dragon that seemed harmless until one ventured too close to the dragon’s treasure- which was Terasu, much to her and Mama’s amusement- at which point the dragon turned into a fifty-feet tall, fire-breathing, teeth-baring menace.  Prince Bel had gifted Tsuna with a set of dragon-patterned knives for the occasion.  Mama had cooed and taken pictures and Terasu had hugged both the blonde and her somewhat horrified- but visibly pleased- brother.

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Terasu hugged Byakuran tightly.  “I’ll miss you, ‘Kuran-kun.”  She said wetly as she stepped back and rapidly blinked her shimmering eyes.  “You won’t forget about us, right?”

Byakuran scoffed lightly and pulled her into another hug.  “Hardly.”  He muttered into her hair.  “Besides, I will be back for High School, and by then I will have some control of my parents’ assets.  We will buy that horrid Kokuyo Land place and turn it into our own, personal playground, yes?”

Terasu smiled brightly at Byakuran, trying her best to push down her tears as she nodded in agreement.  “Right!  Tsu-nii, Shō-kun, and I will start designing and planning what we need to do to make it awesome.”

“Good.”  Byakuran said, stepping back a bit and giving her a critical once-over.  “I expect you to keep those two alive and interesting until I can come back and hear all the entertaining stories of your adventures.”

“You’ve got it!”  She promised eagerly, ignoring Shōichi’s groan and Tsuna’s whimper with the ease of long practice.

Byakuran lightly ruffled Terasu’s hair and handed her off to her brother.  “Well, then, I’m off.”  He told his friends with a cheeky grin.  “Until next time!”

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With Tsuna and Terasu’s induction to their fourth year of Elementary, some of their activities had to be cut due to them having afternoon classes. 

Since Prince Bel gave the two spontaneous etiquette lessons whenever he showed up- he was usually around for several days at a time- they dropped Formal Dance.  Folk Dance was where Terasu’s heart was, and Prince Bel approved of her being able to use her dance items as weapons if the need arose, so they also dropped Modern Dance.  Their music classes only took up two afternoons, so, even with them dropping two dance disciplines, that left them with a bit too much free time- as Shōichi would be going to Yumei Private Middle School and have very little free time as well, and Byakuran was in Italy- so they were considering their other options.

“Some of these activities look fun, but they separate the girls and the boys.”  Tsuna complained from his place, sprawled out on Terasu’s bed, his sister beside him as they flicked through the activities catalogue.

“I _know_!”  Terasu whined, propping her chin up on her fists as her brother turned the pages.  “Does anything look really interesting to you, though, Tsu-nii?”  She queried as her brother flicked past the basketball sections.

“Well.”  Tsuna halted, and the hesitation caught Terasu’s attention.

“Well what?”  Terasu asked curiously.

“Well.”  Tsuna’s face heated up slightly and he ducked his head a bit but continued.  “Well, I was thinking that we could take a drawing class?”  Terasu quirked an eyebrow as Tsuna hurried to continue.  “ _SothatwecanplanoutKokuyoLandbetterforwhen’Kran-kuncomesback_.”  He finished in one breath.

Terasu flopped onto her brother, ignoring his flailing and offended squawk as she ran the idea through her mind.  “Hmm, I can’t draw stick people.”  She mused aloud, wiggling around to make herself comfortable and ignoring Tsuna’s protests.  “But I think that you could be really good at drawing.”  She rolled off of Tsuna and back onto her stomach.  “I think you should go for it.”  She told him sincerely.  “I think you’d really like art.”

“But we wouldn’t be together.”  Tsuna protested with an adorable- in Terasu’s humble opinion- pout as he looked over at his sister.

“Well, but I think that you’d be good at drawing.”  Terasu explained, gently poking her brother in the center of the forehead and quickly soothing the irritation with a gentle kiss to his furrowed brow.  “I can still give opinions, though.  I’m a bit more active, I think that it you take the art activities, I’ll join the Tennis Club.  They fill the same time slots, and then we could still take our dance and music classes.”

“Are you sure?”  Tsuna asked her worriedly, brown eyes searching her face intently for any sign of dismay or being upset.

Terasu ruffled her brother’s soft hair gently.  “I’m _sure,_ sure, Tsu-nii.”

Tsuna’s face slowly broke out into a brilliant, breathtaking smile.  “I think I’ll take the art classes, then.”  He mumbled, his face warming as a heated flush crept up his neck and cheeks.  He peeked at his sister quickly before nearly burrowing his flushed face into the magazine.  “You really think that I’d be good at it?”  He asked her quietly.

“I think that you’ll enjoy it.”  Terasu informed him loyally, poking him in the side until he squeaked and looked up at her.  “And with practice you’ll be great.  It’ll give you something entirely your own to do, too.  I think that will help you, Fluffy Dragon.”  Terasu’s grin turned mischievous and Tsuna groaned in dismay even as his sister’s mouth opened.  “You’ll have to make that your goal:  to draw Tsuna-the-Fluffy-Dragon guarding Terasu-the-Little-Queen.”

Tsuna groaned- _loudly_ \- and Terasu fell off the bed, so distracted as she was by her giggles.

Nana peeked in a few moments later and saw Terasu giggling hopelessly on the floor and Tsuna burrowing his face into a magazine and giggled to herself, laundry basket propped firmly under her arm.  “Ara, Tera-chan, why does Tsu-kun look like he’s trying to meld with the magazine?”

Terasu stopped giggling like an idiot and propped herself up onto her elbows.  “Tsu-nii is going to be an artist, Mama!”  She belted out cheerily.

Tsuna groaned as his face heated up even more as his sister’s declaration caused their mother to chatter excitedly and scurry off as she called over her shoulder that she would make Tsuna’s favorite dinner in celebration.

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April came, and that meant that Elementary year four started for Tsuna and Terasu, both of whom formed a deep appreciation for the amazingness that was the ‘Conference Call’, which allowed them to speak with both Byakuran and Shōichi.

Tsuna was having fun in his art class- which was sort of a beginner sampler to different kinds of art- and Terasu was enjoying the art of learning how to hit a fuzzy yellow ball in a somewhat consistent manner.

Well, not fun necessarily, but it was challenging.  Tsuna spent many afternoons sketching while Terasu cursed prolifically as she tried to consistently hit the exact same spot on the wall she was using to practice her aim.  The wall was part of a retaining wall of the local park, which had a few trees that were large enough to provide Tsuna with a decent amount of shade while he sketched. 

Nana had cheerfully gotten Tsuna art supplies without needing to be asked, so Tsuna had more than enough things to keep him occupied during the long afternoons.  Paper of varying textures and thicknesses- all acid free to avoid yellowing over time- colored (graphite) pencils, charcoal sticks and pencils, _conté_ sticks and pencils, basic drawing pencils, an array of erasers, some felt tips pens, and some blending stumps.  All of the materials could be neatly stored in the smart black messenger-bag style case that Nana had gotten.

So, between his art case and normal backpack, Terasu’s normal backpack, her dance equipment that was in another small sports bag, and her tennis bag they had _plenty_ of things to cart to and from school every day.

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It had surprised both Terasu and Tsuna when their dance teacher had informed them that they were still performing a play that summer- well, surprised them that their dance teacher had once again been persuaded to assist in their summer production.

Byakuran had laughed at them on the phone that night.  (Italy was seven hours behind Japan, so five in the evening for them was ten in the morning for him.)  “ _Of course_.”  He had informed them cheerfully over Shōichi’s moans and Tsuna’s groans.  “ _I couldn’t very well allow our lovely Little Queen to deprive her audience of her loveliness~!”_

Terasu had laughed- she really had not expected Byakuran to do anything less than mastermind another play even when he was half-way across the world- and asked which play they were performing.

_“Turandot, the First Act_.”  Byakuran informed them glibly.  “ _It is set in China, so many of the costumes we used in the King and I will be able to be reprised.”_

“ _Isn’t that an opera_?”  Shōichi had asked somewhat warily, and Terasu could nearly _feel_ him nervously adjusting his glasses.

“ _It is_.”  Byakuran had informed them, nearly infuriatingly cheery in contrast to Tsuna’s flailing and Shōichi’s groans of apprehension.  “ _They have reprised the score, and made the play more narrative than first-person in deference to the ages of the actors, but I believe that it will be even more successful than the King and I was last summer_.”

And that had been that, the next thing the teens knew they were up to their ears in rehearsals, set designs, and costume designs.  Rehearsals were held at Terasu and Tsuna’s dance studio while the set designs and costume designs were being partially handed by Yumei Private Middle School’s drama and engineering departments.

During one of the days when Terasu and Tsuna were looking over pictures of their available costumes and the sketches- from the drama department at Yumei- of the costumes they needed that the blonde Prince made a renewed appearance.

“Oh?”  The Prince said from his position behind Terasu’s shoulder, causing the Sawada sister to grin in startled welcome and Tsuna to squeak in alarm.  “The Prince approves.”  He had stated in a pleased, satisfied voice.  “The Prince shall return shortly.”

‘Shortly’ ended up being two days later with the rather muscular multi-hair-colored man who had introduced himself as Lussuria.  “Darling~!”  The man had greeted the newly returned home twins exuberantly, rising smoothly from his place at the Sawada kitchen table to flounce over towards the bemused Terasu and not-so-subtly panicking Tsuna.  “I’m so excited~!  Come~”  The man said, taking Terasu by the arm and waving cheerily at Nana, (and ignoring Tsuna), “Let us look over the designs!”

“Ushishishi.”  The blonde Prince said, melting out from the shadows and nearly giving the still-panicking Tsuna a heart attack.  “It seems the Fluffy Dragon has gotten rusty.  The Prince shall remedy this.”

Nana had merely peeked around the doorway of the kitchen when she heard her son yelp in alarm.  “Will you be staying for supper, Bel-kun?”

“Yes, Mama.”  The blonde psycho replied with a wide smile.  “Lussuria as well.”

“Oh, good!”  Nana replied happily with a beaming smile directed at the blonde who had knives twirling around his fingers.  “I’ll make my famous tempura!”

“It sounds lovely, Mama.”  The blonde Prince replied before refocusing on Tsuna- who was directing a very betrayed look towards his mother. 

“How can you be so nice to my mother and sister when you are so mean to me!?”  Tsuna asked once they had made it to the backyard.

Prince Bel did not even pause in his assault when he answered.  “Because you are the man of this household, Fluffy Dragon.”  The blonde’s voice had been rather somber, which caught Tsuna’s attention, even as he continued to dodge knives and wire traps.  “Your father might have your best interests at heart, but he is not here.”  The blonde spun and snagged his wires, causing the trap Tsuna had just avoided to inverse and catch his ankle, which caused Tsuna to yelp and hastily dodge out of the way of the three knives that came hurtling towards him from the back.  “When an enemy comes to call, you will be the only defense that your mother and sister have.”

Tsuna grimaced and nimbly hopped over some wires and executed a strange flip that was anything but graceful but allowed him to avoid the next trap.  “You-“  Tsuna panted as he rolled back up to his feet and swiped the sweat out of his eyes.  “-you think it will come to that?”

Prince Bel twirled his knives and deftly pulled them back to his person as he readied himself for another round.  “You know that I cannot tell you how I know your father.”  He told the brunette seriously.  “It is against the laws.  However I will tell you that there is unrest and the company your father works for is much too small to provide your mother and sister with any decent sort of protection.”  Bel’s gaze was a heavy thing even without being able to see his eyes.  “The anonymity is the greatest level of protection your family has, and once that is breeched there are only a few other fail-safes in place.” 

Bel tossed a new volley of knives towards the grimacing brunet.  “In that case you are all that will stand between your family and destruction.  The Little Queen can fight, but she _should not have to_ and your mother is far too kind and hospitable to recognize a true threat.”

Tsuna frowned heavily as he jumped to the side and rolled, springing back up to his feet quickly and sidestepping deftly before he wove back towards Bel’s standing form.  “Then I’ll fight.  For Mama, for Tera-chan.”  He said earnestly.  “I won’t-“  A wire clipped him and he ducked and rolled.  “-I won’t give up.  I won’t quit.”  Orange flared behind Tsuna’s eyes and the boy brought his fists up in defiance.  “ ** _I won’t let anyone hurt my family_**.”

This time when the wire trap came around, Tsuna’s Flames flickered around his fingers as he used his Harmony factor to break the bonds that held the wires together.

Grim satisfaction twined through the Varia Storm Captain as he twisted away from Tsuna’s punch and tripped the kid before he could correct himself.  _Let’s hope that the Varia can keep you and your family out of the line of fire for a while yet, kid._  Bel thought darkly as he stowed his weapons, turning to head back to the house as Nana called out that supper was ready.  _But as things are, I’m not going to be around much in the next few years and you’re going to have to take care of the threats that slip through your father’s net._

From his place on the ground, his face pressed up against the grass, Tsuna swore an oath.  _I don’t really like fighting, and I certainly don’t like to hurt people.  But if someone comes after Mama or Tera-chan- like those guys came after Shōichi to get to his dad- **I won’t show them any mercy**._

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	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Last chapter I did mention Tsuna and Terasu as twins, it was kind of a mistake and kind of a way to imply that most people have forgotten that Tsuna and Terasu aren’t actual twins. They know that, technically, they are ten months apart, but they act more like actual, in-synch twins than regular siblings. Them being in the same class sort of perpetuates that.
> 
> As to the CEDEF being a large organization, here’s my reply. The CEDEF has about 800 members. The Chiavarone- under Dino’s leadership- have about 5,000 members, and the Vongola is even bigger than them. Now, the CEDEF are the External Advisors, responsible for gathering intel on not only Vongola’s enemies, but their allies as well, and the Vongola has a ton of allies- the Chiavarone being one of them. This means that even though the CEDEF has 800 members, they have a ridiculously small amount of people for the actual task at hand. Between gathering intel on enemies, rooting out spies and traitors, keeping a watch on law enforcement and government agencies, and verifying intel given to the Vongola independently, they are massively understaffed.
> 
> Ergo, Bel’s thought of Iemitsu’s company being ‘too small’. Even though the Varia are a smaller organization- in my headcannon they have about a hundred members all-told, even though the Wiki page says about 50 after the officers- they have a much narrower focus. Mistakes in the CEDEF don’t always equal death, in the Varia this is a much clearer certainty. Bel met the Sawada family by coincidence, so he knows that other Famiglia might uncover them the same way. He was trying to motivate Tsuna and prepare him for a worst-case sort of situation. Bel has no idea that Tsuna and Terasu have already faced down assassins.
> 
> I hope that helps clear up any confusion!

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Terasu knew that the man was dangerous, but she _adored_ Lussuria.  Whether they were knee-deep in fabrics and arguing about the proper cuts and stitch styles or lounging on the back porch watching Prince Bel ‘training’ Tsu-nii, Lussuria was a delightful companion.

It helped that Lussuria was her partner-in-crime.

“It’s not that they don’t believe you can fight.”  Lussuria had told her one afternoon when she had griped about her brother not wanting her to learn to fight properly.  “It’s that Bel is rather old-fashioned and believes that you shouldn’t have to.  It’s a rather archaic way of thinking, but Bel was raised with the ideology that the man of the house was the first line of defense, and if the women were forced to take the fight into their hands, then the Protectors failed.”

“That’s stupid.”  Terasu had protested hotly.  “Just because Otou-san isn’t around doesn’t mean that protecting all of us falls solely on Tsu-nii’s shoulders.”

“I agree~!”  Lussuria had sang brightly, dropping the costume he’d had in his hand and spinning around quickly, hands on his lips and a devious grin on his lips.  “Which is why I have decided to train you.”  Lussuria shifted and tapped a thoughtful finger to his lips.  “Of course, we’re going to have to be sneaky about things _and_ we have to prepare for your performance so we’ll be working harder than the boys.”

Terasu gulped uneasily but she straightened with resolve and tipped her chin up in defiance.  “Bring it.”  She retorted hotly.  “I won’t be left behind.”

“That’s my girl!”  Lussuria cheered as he bounced forward and wrapped her into an exuberant hug. 

Five days later, as Lussuria launched another ‘surprise attack’ and Mama only giggled indulgently Terasu felt a burst of affection curl through her as she considered how much her brother loved her and Mama to put up with this treatment for months at a time with a minimal of complaining. 

_Don’t worry, Tsu-nii_.  She thought fiercely as she dodged one of Lussuria’s massive punches and slipped out of her bedroom window, shimmying down the drain pipe and hitting the ground running.  _I’ll do my absolute best and catch up.  We’ll face anyone who wants to hurt Mama together_.

Then Lussuria was suddenly, somehow in _front_ of her and she didn’t have time to think anymore.  Terasu pulled up all of Harry’s memories of fighting and surviving and anything else that she thought would help as she dodged and weaved and tried to find a way to counter attack.

She wouldn’t hold back, she’d use everything in her arsenal to keep Tsu-nii and Mama safe.

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Meanwhile in Italy, Byakuran was scheming. 

_My adorable Little Queen needs Guardians_.  He thought as he lay sprawled in the sunshine in the unforgiving summer sun, highly potent sunscreen protecting his rather sensitive skin.  Byakuran flipped through the portfolio that his mother’s people had compiled for him and he sipped at his sweet drink carefully as he considered the information.  _Tsuna has plenty of decent prospects, but my Little Queen needs guardians who know better than to smother her because of her gender._   Byakuran grinned rather sharply.  _They would do well to not underestimate lovely Tera-chan._

Byakuran snapped his fingers and one of the staff quickly moved to replace his now-empty drink.  Byakuran gave his attendant a pleased smile when he realized that the man had caught on to the act that Byakuran liked for his drink’s flavor to match the color of the decorative umbrella.  I need to ensure that that one receives a bonus.  He mentally noted as he set aside the portfolio from his mother’s people and picked up one of the ones from his father’s informants.  It was several disinterested pages later that he caught sight of something that caused him to sit up a bit straighter.

“Oho?”  He murmured as the smirk on his face morphed into a fully-grown conspiratorial smile.  “Now, this is _interesting_.”

A week and a few lucrative business deals later, Byakuran let out a triumphant laugh as he hung up the phone, causing the nearby servants to either shudder in apprehension or quirk an inquisitive eyebrow.

Inside the office Byakuran leaned back in his chair and basked in the success of his newest scheme.  _This ought to be entertaining_.  He thought as he mentally prepared himself for Tsuna’s not doubt entirely amusing reactions to the upcoming meetings.  _I can’t wait for the performance!_

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Terasu flounced offstage and threw herself into her brother’s arms.

“A brilliant performance, Tera-chan!”  Tsuna muttered into her hairspray-stiff hair, the smell irritating his nose and causing it to itch terribly, but he persevered.  “You were absolutely breathtaking out there.”

Terasu pulled back a bit and grinned happily up at Tsuna.  “Thanks, Tsu-nii!  But you were pretty amazing yourself!”

Tsuna’s answer devolved into a surprised screech as Byakuran unexpectedly popped up.  “Little Queen!”

“Byakuran!”  Terasu yelled excitedly, throwing herself into Byakuran’s arms.

Byakuran caught her easily and twirled her around expertly.  “You were breathtaking, as Tsuna mentioned.”

Terasu shifted backwards a little so she could tip her head back and look into Byakuran’s lavender eyes.  “It’s mostly thanks to you guys though!”  She told him happily.  “Without you organizing the stage and the advertising, and Tsu-nii working on the set as well as playing his part, and then Shō-kun with the Orchestra-“  Terasu’s cheerful babbling was cut off as Nana arrived, escorted by one of the ushers.

“Tera-chan!  Tsu-kun!”  She called warmly.  “Ara, and Bya-kun, and Shō-kun as well!”  The Sawada Matriarch gave them all warm, motherly hugs.  “I hope you all are planning to come to the house for a celebration dinner!  I made all your favorites just in case!”  The woman told them all brightly.

“We wouldn’t dream of missing it, Mama.”  Byakuran answered smoothly.  “Do you mind if I bring a few extras?”

Suddenly Shōichi clutched at his stomach while Tsuna whimpered in apprehension.

Nana, naturally, was oblivious.  “Of course not, Bya-kun!”  She assured him.  “Well, I’m going to hurry home and get everything set up, I’ll expect you all in about an hour, alright?”

“Of course, Mama.”  Byakuran told her cheerily.  “We wouldn’t dream of keeping you waiting.”

Nana beamed at them and scurried off, presumably back to the house to ready herself for the imminent arrival of her guests.

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The boy known by most as ‘Spanner’ had always been fascinated by the country of Japan.  At first it had been because it was an escape from the dreary reality that was his life, as his father was a mechanic and his mother a computer programmer, and both of them miserable together yet even more miserable when they were apart.  The country was small, yet held some of the most advanced technology programs in the entire world.  Little Spanner’s goal had been to attend one of the Japanese universities.

It was a goal at least.  One that didn’t end with him in the same situation as his parents.

As shitty as it sounded, it had nearly been a relief when his father had finally had his meltdown and his mother had sent the young child from the family home in Britain to his maternal grandfather in Italy.

Grandfather was an engineer and worked for a not-entirely-legal shell company for the mafia.  Spanner had not really cared as he suddenly had the freedom to be both mechanic and programmer, whereas at home whatever he tinkering he had performed had only evolved into another shouting match between his parents.  It was Grandfather’s work partner- who was a man who was a Japanese national, but was in Italy on a work visa through the ‘company’- that had rekindled Spanner’s passion for all things Japanese-related.  Of course, Spanner did not discount the advances in the other countries; he just had a special sort of affection for Japan.

It was actually Mr. Takeda who had dubbed him ‘Spanner’ and the boy had demanded that everyone call him that ever since.  Grandfather had even had Spanner’s official records adjusted, mostly out of amusement.  As time went by, Spanner’s genius with machines became apparent and he was allowed to work on the more ‘elite’ projects.

That is to say, machines that were made to be used by Flame Actives or machines made to go against Flame Actives. 

Spanner loved the work, and his insights had allowed Grandfather and Mr. Takeda to speed up the timeframe on several of their projects, which had then granted Spanner access to even more top-secrets projects.  By the end, Spanner had been involved in most of the company’s high-level projects to some degree.

So when Byakuran Gesso had shown up and offered Spanner a way into Japan, he had taken the opportunity gleefully.  Of course, such an opportunity had not come without some strings attached.

“You.”  Byakuran Gesso, the Heir of the President who had just ‘bought’ the shell companies that Grandfather and Mr. Takeda worked for, said casually from his position against the doorjamb of the room spanner had been working inside of when Byakuran had shown up.  “Are primarily a Lightning Flame user.  However, I will warn you now- I am the Little Queen’s Lightning Guardian.”  Something dark and dangerous had played behind the lavender-colored eyes for a moment, and Spanner knew instantly that the other teen would not hesitate to end him should Spanner tread on his self-proclaimed position.

“Alight.  So, where do I come in?”

Byakuran’s smile stretched into something far less sinister and the dark possessiveness that had been on display quickly hid itself behind a pleasant demeanor.  “You are as much of a Sun Flame user as you are a Lightning Flame, and Tera-chan needs two Sun Guardians- for reasons that should become apparent to you if you are half as intelligent as I suspect that you are.  Shōichi won’t mind sharing the position, especially as he enjoys science and making new gadgets.  Music is his passion, but science is a favored hobby.”  Byakuran had favored Spanner with a rather imperious look.  “So, knowing the limits and that the Little Queen’s safety is my first priority, what say you, Spanner?”

Spanner had grinned then, sharp and vicious and intensely interested as he pulled his ever-present lollipop out of his mouth to answer.  “When do I leave and how often can I visit Grandfather?”

“I think, Spanner.”  Byakuran said as he gracefully detached from the doorjamb and crossed the space between them, extending his hand after he stopped just short of Spanner’s position.  “That we are going to get along very, very well.”

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The jumpsuit-clad teen with blonde hair, light green eyes, and lollipop tucked in his cheek was introduced to them as Spanner, who would be starting school with Shōichi when school resumed.  The man with the sharp, teal eyes that were made up with a similar shade of eye-shadow, and long, wavy, mint-colored hair that was tied half up, half down and was sporting golden cuff earrings was introduced as Kikyō, Byakuran’s newly-hired personal assistant.

Fortunately, Tsuna had gotten used to Lussuria by this point so he had not made any comment about how effeminate the man appeared to be, despite his rather pronounced arm muscles and graceful gait.

Terasu made a mental note to keep Kikyō and Lussuria far apart- as they would either get along like gasoline and fire or they would hate each other at first sight.  She was not entirely sure what would be worse, honestly.

Once they had been introduced, Mama had quickly ushered them into the kitchen and gotten them seated around the table, where the feast she had prepared was laid out in front of them.  Mama was seated at the head of the table, with one of the Sawada siblings on either side of her.  Terasu was seated next to Byakuran, who had Kikyō seated next to him.  Tsuna was sitting next to the new guy, Spanner, and next to him was Shōichi.

Spanner was giving Mama rather disturbingly besotted glances, which made Tsuna squirm uncertainly, but Terasu thought that the blonde’s obvious adoration of Mama was _adorable_.

She could live without Byakuran’s knowing smirks, though.

Kikyō was rather well mannered, despite his vociferously colorful appearance, and Terasu was pleased by the steady stream of chatter she was able to include Kikyō in, with the occasional input with the others.

Of course, because nothing in Terasu’s lives ever happens without a dash of Potter Luck thrown in, it was just as they reached the main course and were all settled into comfortable conversation that Prince Bel and Lussuria showed up.

“Ushishishi, the Prince has arrived!”  The blonde royal proclaimed as he threw open the front door, Lussuria trailing behind him.  They quickly switched their shoes and Mama ushered them into the kitchen.

The newcomers locked gazes with those who were seated at the table. 

A tense moment passed.

Then Terasu stood and came around to greet the Varia members.  “Prince bel!  Lussuria-nee!  I didn’t realize that you were able to make it!”  She told them cheerfully, bestowing both of them with hugs and gesturing for them to have a seat.  “You can have the other end seat, Prince Bel.  The table  is backwards so that is actually the head of the table.”

The Prince smirked proudly at her and smoothly seated himself, leveling the others with a cool stare.

Terasu looked at Lussuria.  “Would you like to sit by Kikyō-san or Shō-kun, Lussuria-nee?”

Lussuria and Kikyō exchanged a long, hard stare.  The only sounds were Nana’s bustling as she made up two extra place settings and Shōichi’s muted groaning.

Tsuna knew better than to flail in Prince Bel’s presence.

Then Lussuria and Kikyō both smiled sharply and Lussuria patted Terasu on the head fondly.  “I’ll sit by Kikyō-chan, Tera-dear!”  And then the man bounced over and seated himself next to the greenet.

“Nice to meet you, Lussuria-chan.”  Kikyō greeted politely.

Lussuria’s grin widened into something darker, yet intensely satisfied.  “You as well, Ki-chan!”  He chirped brightly.  “I think that we’re going to be _very_ good friends.”

“Indeed.”  The greenet drawled with a disturbing grin of his own.

“Isn’t this lovely!”  Byakuran commented as he happily slurped his noodles.

“It is isn’t it?”  Nana gushed happily as she looked out over her full, lively dinner table.

“We should do this more often.”  Byakuran commented innocently.

Tsuna and Shōichi both glared at him as the others went back to making conversation.  Well, Prince Bel made cutting commentary and Lussuria and Kikyō interjected bland insults and outright catty observations, while Spanner lavished praise on Nana and Shōichi and Tsuna traded commiserating glances with each other.  Terasu and Nana merely did their part in keeping the conversation flowing and being hostesses.

Terasu still had the unsettling feeling that she had somehow catalyzed the apocalypse.

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Terasu’s ninth birthday sped by in a haze of performances, as they had collectively decided to celebrate Terasu’s birthday after the run of _Turandot, the First Act_ was completed.  Of course, Nana and Tsuna had still wished her a happy birthday on her birthday and had given her heartfelt, snug hugs, but the reality was the Sawada family was far too busy to do much more than that and Terasu’s favorite dinner.

With the dance recitals, music recitals, club activities, and the two semi-major productions, Sawada Nana had amassed quite the collection of pictures of Tsuna, Terasu, and their rather eclectic group of friends.  So many, in fact, that the shoe box she originally kept them in was overflowing and there were stacks of photos strewn about her dresser as well.  She had many pictures framed and hung on the walls, but there were just so many of them!  And it wasn’t as if the pictures in her shoebox of memories were not wall-worthy, rather if she hung them she would run out of wall space!  With Tsuna now taking art classes and beginning to draw and paint, she had even more precious memories to hold onto and she didn’t want to throw any of them away!

She could use picture albums, of course, but all of the pictures were varying sizes and Tsuna’s art would not fit into something so…..premade.

In the end, it had been Lussuria who had suggested what would become Nana’s favorite hobby. 

“Oh my, that’s quite the collection, Mama!”  Lussuria had mentioned from his position against the doorjamb.  Nana had an old dress that the man was going to update for her, and that was why he had followed her, as he was almost ready to leave.  “Why don’t you scrapbook all of this?”

“Scrapbook?”  Nana had asked curiously as she had slid the door to her walk-in closet closed and walked over to the cheerful man.  “What are you talking about Lussuria-chan?”

Lussuria favored her with a warm smile and linked their arms together as she escorted him to the front door.  “Scrapbooking, Mama-dear, is the art of compiling pictures or other keepsakes into meaningful collages using whatever strikes your fancy- decorative or novelty stamps with colored inks, construction paper, chalk, string, there are endless possibilities, really.”  Lussuria waved his free hand negligently and released Nana so that he could put on his shoes.  Since she still seemed curious he elaborated.  “The type of scrapbooking I am thinking of is where you take a book full of thick, acid-free paper- or parchment, depending on how fancy you wish to get- and you use all of those things and more to create cute little collages with your pictures or other mementos, with explanations as to what, when, and where was happening at the time it was taken or drawn or whatever.”

“Oh!”  Nana exclaimed brightly, reaching forward and giving Lussuria a warm hug.  “That sounds like so much fun!”  Nana stepped back and beamed at Lussuria.  “I don’t know why I never thought about that, but I think it would be a great way to preserve the memories and find a way to display them.  You’re a lifesaver, Lussuria-chan!”

“I live to please, Mama-dear!”  Lussuria preened as the Sawada Matriarch began to babble excitedly. 

“I’ll have the supplies and start organizing the mess in my room, but I’ll wait until you come back so that you can help me with my first collage, alright Lussuria-chan?”

Lussuria was Varia, tried, tested, and true, but Sawada Nana was a doll and he couldn’t help but dote on the Little Queen’s mother.  “It sounds like a date, Mama-dear!  Until then!”

Nana’s bright, clear laugh could be heard all the way to the street.

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Nana was dithering over a selection of colored inks when a young girl collided into her.

“Oh!  Haru is sorry, desu!”  The dark haired girl apologized earnestly as she righted herself and reached out a hand to steady Nana.  Once Nana was stable the girl released her and pointed sheepishly at a basket with a sale marker on it that was full of colorful spools of thread.  “Haru was distracted by the sale on thread, desu!”

Nana smiled kindly down at the girl; she seemed to be about Terasu’s age.  “Ara, it’s fine, Haru-chan!”  She told the girl easily.  “Do you enjoy sewing then?”

The girl’s chocolate eyes seemed to brighten and she brought her fisted hands in excitement.  “Haru does, desu!”  She bounced a little and her grinned widened at the gentle smile Nana favored her with.  “Haru is going to make a costume like Turandot-sama for her school club project!”

“Ara?”  Nana echoed bemusedly.  “Have you done to watch the play then, Haru-chan?”

“Haru has attended seven performances.”  The girl confessed with a light blush. 

Nana’s smiled widened and she shook her head firmly.  “Well, then, I’ll tell you what, Haru-chan.”  Nana leaned forward a bit and explained her plan in a conspiratorial ton of voice.  “If you help me in picking out only three ink colors for my new scrapbooking project, I’ll invite you over for dinner.”  Nana’s grin widened a bit at the rather confused look on Haru’s face.  “My daughter is the one who plays Turandot-sama.”  She imparted proudly.  “And I think that you two would get along quite well.”  She finished cheerfully.

Haru’s eyes went wide and her blush deepened.  “Ah, Haru does not think that she would have anything in common with Sawada-sama.”  She told the mother of two rather uncertainly.  “Haru is often told that she is, ah, annoying, desu.”

“I am certain that you and Tera-chan would get along quite well.”  Nana told her firmly, feeling a kinship to this bright girl.  Sawada Nana had often been told to mind her own business and to stop being such an annoyance more than once, once upon a time.  Besides, Haru was sweet and Tera-chan did need some actual girl friends.  “So help me pick out these ink colors so I can get dinner started.”

“If you’re sure, Sawada-sama.”  The girl told her doubtfully.

“None of that now!”  Nana told her cheerfully as she went back to considering the ink colors.  “You should call me Mama!”

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_I can’t believe it has been almost two months since I met Tera-chan_!  Haru thought excitedly as she closed her school shoe locked and grabbed her school bag.

Despite Haru’s nervousness, she and Sawada Terasu had gotten a long quite well.  Though, through the benefit of hindsight, Haru was fairly certain that it was more to do with Haru’s treatment of Tsuna that had endeared her to the younger girl at first.  Sawada Tsunayoshi was clumsy, awkward, and a bit of a worrywart but Haru thought he was cute and had said so upon their first face-to-face meeting.  Terasu had been slightly cool, but cordial and it had not taken long after that for the two girls to bond over fabrics and costumes and other things that made Tsuna’s eyes go all swirly.

Figuratively, of course.

Haru also really liked Lussuria-nee, who came by every once in a while and always had tips and pointers for their costumes designs.  Lussuria-nee would comment that a commoners fabric during such-and-such time period would need to be much coarser and the stiches more haphazard, or he would gently correct a color they wanted to use, citing a historical, class-oriented, or societal reason; he even showed them how to ‘age’ their materials so they looked more authentic!

Lussuria-nee was the best!

Haru fairly skipped as she made her way to the elementary school the Sawada siblings attended.  She and Terasu were going to be going over the designs for next summer’s play- well, one of them.  They would be performing _Turandot: the Second Act_ , but in the evenings between July seventh and August seventh they would be performing a rather romanticized, theatrical version of the legend behind _Tanabata_ , or the Star Festival.

Both plays were costume-intensive, so there was no shortage of work to be done, but Haru was enjoying every minute of it!

“Haru-chan!”  Terasu called out to her.  Apparently the Sawada siblings had gotten out of the club activities a little early.  Haru was usually just in time for the end of their day because her club let out fifteen minutes earlier than theirs did due to her day starting a half-hour earlier.

“Tera-chan!”  Haru called back, bouncing over and linking her arm with her friend.  “How was your day?”  She asked excitedly, tossing a greeting to the bemused Tsuna on Terasu’s other side.

“Not bad, I hate math, though!”  She cried out in frustration.  “I mean, numbers I am okay with, but then the alphabet barges in and I get _lost_!”

“Amen.”  Tsuna muttered dejectedly.

Haru laughed and Terasu poked her in the ribs none-too-gently.  “Yeah, yeah.  Laugh all you want Miss I-want-to-go-to-Midori-Middle, I still hate alphabet-flavored math.”  Terasu made a disgusted face.  “And whoever came up with it.  I hope that they run into Prince Bel in a bad mood.”

Tsuna nearly tripped, he started laughing so hard.

“It’s not that bad.”  Haru placated her friend, grinning wider at the scowl Terasu sent her way.  “Besides, you could try for Midori, too.”

Terasu rolled her eyes and poked her friend again.  “First off, I have way too much to do to pull my grades up to the very top like Midori needs.  Secondly what do you think would happen to Tsu-nii without his brilliant, wonderful sister to nudge him when sensei calls on him in history?”

Haru raised an amused eyebrow.  “You’re still falling asleep in history?”

“It’s not _my_ fault, I tried to stay awake, honest!”  Tsuna protested, spinning around to walk backwards in front of them and waving his hands around to emphasize his point.  “But Prince Bel showed up really early this morning- by morning, I mean that in the technical sense, it was midnight-dawn basically- and then we have PE in the first half of the day.  I was _exhausted_.”

The girls gave Tsuna suspicious looks.

His shoulders drooped in defeat.  “You have no hearts.”  He muttered petulantly.

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It was the beginning of December when Prince Bel and Lussuria showed up in the middle of the night, carefully shaking their respective students awake and informing them that it would likely be months, if not upwards of a year before they could make it back.

“There’s weird shit going down at work.”  Lussuria told them seriously.  “And even though you’ve never really seen him around, Mammon has always covered for us so that no one follows us back to you two.  Unfortunately, our company is even smaller than Iemitsu’s and we can’t afford to possibly have Mammon tied up covering us if something happens.”

They both- even Tsuna had dared to hug the crazy blonde- have given the two tight, fierce hugs and had all but demanded that the two be as safe as possible.

“You guys are awesome.”  Tsuna told them in a semi-wobbly voice.  “I won’t demand that you not get hurt, but-“  Tsuna’s breath hitched and Terasu stepped in.

“-but promise us that you’ll do your absolute best to come back.”  Terasu had finished strongly.

The two had smirked at the Sawada siblings fiercely, more teeth than lips, but that was fine.  Tsuna and Terasu didn’t want assurances from their friends; they wanted assurances from the warriors that lurked behind Lussuria’s easy gait and Prince Bel’s arrogant bearing.

The moment held for a long moment, and more was said in that echoing silence than any words could have hoped to convey.  Then the moment shattered and Lussuria pulled out a small, thin brightly-wrapped rectangular-shaped box from nowhere and he presented it to Terasu. 

Beside him, Prince Bel presented Tsuna with a similarly-wrapped, but square box.

“We know that you don’t usually open presents in front of people, but these require some explanations, so go ahead.”  Lussuria told them.

Tsuna and Terasu muttered their thanks and obeyed.  The wrapping paper fell away to reveal dark, sturdy wooden boxes.  Tsuna gave Terasu a smile and gestured for her to go first.  She made a face at him, but huffed in defeat and complied with his silent demand.

Her breath caught when she opened the box and gazed at the two small, dark sticks lying on the velvet interior.  For a moment, Terasu was Harry, that day in Ollivander’s receiving his Holly and Phoenix feather wand-

She reached out and ran a gentle finger along one of them.  “They’re beautiful.”  She breathed reverently.  “ _Thank you_.”

“They’re all yours.”  Lussuria told her warmly, snapping her out of her memories and back into the present, but her awe of her gift remained.  “Pick them up.”

Terasu, rather shakily, complied.  The dark brown, nearly black sticks were decorated with beautifully etched designs, inlaid with silver and capped at the end with what appeared to be jade.  They were tapered slightly, from the jade cap at the end, but Terasu guessed that they were about an inch and a half at the largest end and a half to quarter-inch at the smaller end.  The transition was so fluid that you have to look at them really closely to notice that, though.

“They’re beautiful.”  She breathed again, just as besotted as before as she carefully examined them.

“They’re not only beautiful, Little Queen, they’re deadly.”  Prince Bel told her, smug and excited all at once.  “You are a Sky, but much like Lussuria and I’s Boss you have another predominate Flame- Sun Flames, to be exact.”

“Yep!”  Lussuria interjected brightly, lightly clapping his hands together as he all but bounced with excitement.  “And what are Sun Flames known for?”  He prompted expectantly.

“Activation.”  Both Tsuna and Terasu answered obediently.

“Precisely.”  Prince Bel answered, haughtily pleased.

“We had some help from Bya-chan, Shōi-chan, and Lollipop-boy, but our Boss allowed us to use our company’s weapon’s smith to help forge these.”  He waved at Terasu’s opened present and Tsuna’s as-of-yet unopened one.  “As a way for you two to stay safe while we’re unable to be here.”

“Hold them with the jade ends pointed towards you, with your hand nearly touching the jade ends and will them to change.”

Terasu, a thousand memories of Harry tumbling through her mind, took a deep eager breath, exchanged a quick, excited glance with her brother and then positioned her hands _just s_ o before she closed her eyes.  It took a few minutes, but eventually she could feel the pleasant hum of her Flame uncoiling from deep within her and spiraling out in accordance to her will.  It was a bit difficult, to call out just the Sun part and not the Sky one, but she had been practicing for the better part of six months on this exact thing during her daily meditation exercises, so she managed it.

When her Flames reached her hands, the silver etching glowed brightly for a quick moment.  In the next moment she was holding two beautifully crafted, silver-bladed daggers.  The blades were about a foot or so long, but the curve made it difficult to tell.  The etching that was present on the sticks was displayed on the blade, and the hilt was a leather wrapped, jade inlaid thing of _beauty_.  There was a guard on the underside, but the top was open so she was going to need some lessons on how not to cut herself, even though Lussuria had taught her the basics of using short blades!  The end was jade cylinder that held a sharp, silver spike.

Terasu was fairly certain that she was in love.

“If I felt more awake.”  She told them seriously. “I would run through my stances.”

The other three chuckled, but Terasu’s renewed thanks were cut off by Lussuria instructing her how to return her daggers to their original form.  She pouted at him, but he assured her that they held another surprise, so she rather grumpily complied.  Once they were merely beautiful stick once more, Lussuria told her to call up her Sky Flame’s Harmony factor while holding both sticks in the same hand.

Terasu did, and once more the silver etching glowed brightly for a moment before something new was in her hand.

“The design is based off of the _ko-naginata_ , though those are usually over six feet tall.”  Lussuria explained to the awed Terasu.  Tsuna had scooted over and was running gentle fingers over the etching along the weapon’s wooden middle.  “We guesstimated your adult height and made this one to scale, so it is a bit too big for you right now.”

“That beauty is four-and-a-half feet of reinforced wood, topped by thirteen inches of steel, and capped with two inches of titanium at the base.”  Prince Bel informed her succinctly.  “So, it is about one hundred and seventy-six centimeters as opposed to the usual two-hundred and ten centimeters or somewhat higher.”

Lussuria pouted at Prince Bel.  “You know I like to use standard measurements instead of metric!”

“Because you’re an annoying peasant.”  Prince Bel replied acerbically.

“Uh, guys?”  Tsuna broke in, eying his sister worriedly. “I think you broke Tera-nee.”

Terasu smacker her brother with her free hand, but did not disagree.  The weapon in her hands was topped by what looked to be one of her daggers, but the blade was straight.  This time the jade was a small section between the end of the blade and the beginning of the trunk.  The trunk of the weapon held the intricate silver etching, which was a stark contrast to the dark wood.

Really, really pretty though.

The bottom of the weapon, much like Prince Bel had mentioned was capped with a shining whitish-silver metal with a rather wicked-looking sharp barb at the very bottom.

Terasu was sort of in love with it already, even if it was too cumbersome for her at the moment.

It was with no little regret that she returned the gorgeous weapon to its stick form.  “They’re hair sticks-”  Lussuria told her brightly, showing her how to remove the end and secure the things in her hair.  “-most people- even Flame wielding Mafioso- would overlook them, so you’re likely to never be disarmed.

“Thank you.”  She told them once more, hugging them both, then Tsuna, and then both of them again.  “They’re amazing.”

“Tera-chan is going to sleep with those things in her hair now.”  Tsuna moaned playfully.  “And then when she sneaks in to cuddle with me she’ll poke me with them!”

Terasu smacked her brother and rolled her eyes dramatically, but she gestured for Tsuna to open his present.

Tsuna opened his box and saw two sturdy, thick leather bracers inside.  They were handsome, maybe two inches thick with twisted stands of dyed pieces woven into their intricate design.  Curious, he slipped both of them on and began to channel his Flame without being told.  It took him a bit longer than it took Terasu, but soon enough his Flames rose and were directed to the bracers, which flashed obediently and morphed into some awesome-looking dark-colored gloves.

“Wow.”  Tsuna breathed quietly, tightening and loosening his hands  into fists and feeling how the gloves’ material flowed with the movements.  “They’re so awesome.”

“You prefer to get up close and personal with your fights, Fluffy Dragon.”  Prince Bel explained.  “The founder of the parents company that we work for was known for his preference for fighting with his fists so that he could use his famed Intuition to the fullest.  Your gloves were modeled after his, only better.  Since our technology and understanding of the mechanics behind the Flames has grown, your version is far superior.”

“I can feel the gloves encouraging my Flames.”  Tsuna told them, attention still focused intently on his new gloves.  “It’s like they’re encouraging my Flames to rise to the surface.”  Tsuna concentrated for a moment and then his hands- or his gloves perhaps- were wreathed in bright orange Flames.  “Neat.”  He said cheerfully.

Terasu rolled her eyes, Lussuria preened and Prince Bel whacked Tsuna over the head, just hard enough for him to startled the kid and cause the mini-bonfire around his hands to flicker out.

“Alright.”  Lussuria chirped brightly.  “Rules and then His Highness and I need to be off, we’re running behind as is.”

Both Sawada siblings drooped a little.

“Now, now none of that!”  Lussuria informed them sternly, waiting for the twins to perk back up and little and focus on him.  “First things first, no using your new weapons without being somewhere where you can hide what you’re doing.  Iemitsu occasionally has people in the area to check up on you, and it is only thanks to Mammon’s interference that he has not realized that Bel and I know about you.  Our branches have a bit of a rivalry, so him finding out about us knowing about you would be….highly inconvenient.”

Terasu and Tsuna’s Intuition told them that that was an understatement.

“Likewise, if he finds out that you both are Flame Active he’s likely to freak and do something incredibly moronic- like have your Flames sealed.”  Lussuria’s eye roll was readily apparent, even though he was still wearing his trademark sunglasses.  “Not because he wants to be cruel, but I think he has an idealized version of what his family is and should be and that causes him to react….rashly.”  The man’s lips twisted into a sneer, but he did an admirable job of keeping his feelings out of his voice.  “Therefore, unless it is an emergency, don’t be careless.  Understood?”

The siblings nodded.

“The last rule is to always, always have them on your person somewhere.”  Lussuria told them as he and Bel got to their feet.  “Obviously you will have to take them out to shower or take a bath, but even then keep them within reach.  Intruders are more likely to attack when you’re vulnerable, understood?”

Terasu and Tsuna nodded and stepped forward to give their mentors another round of hugs- Prince Bel was being rather agreeable, but both were grateful for his longsuffering, and Lussuria just gave nice hugs- and then they sat back down on Tsuna’s bed and watched them leave.

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“Tera-chan?”  Tsuna said after a short period of silence after Lussuria and Prince Bel had long since disappeared.

“Yeah, Tsu-nii?”  Terasu answered, tone thick with unspent emotions.

“Is it-“  Tsuna hesitated for a long moment, but apparently decided to press forward.  “-is it wrong of me that I miss them more than I miss Otou-san?”

Terasu was silent for a long moment.  “No, I don’t think so.”  She admitted reluctantly.  “Otou-san- well, he’s more of an ideal.  We know he exists, and that it’s his money that pays for our home and our schooling and our other stuff, but he’s never really been here, you know?”  Terasu wriggled around and gently bullied Tsuna back under the covers, settling in beside him once she was satisfied that her hair sticks were within easy reach on the night stand.  “It’s like, we love him but it’s different from how we love Mama and Lussuria-nee and Prince Bel because they’re the ones who are here for us when we fall down, and they know us- not some deluded version of us.” 

Terasu combed gentle fingers through Tsuna’s soft hair and curled around her brother.  “So I don’t think it’s wrong of you to feel that way.  Sad, maybe, but not wrong.”

When Nana came in to wake them up the next morning, she smiled tenderly and snapped a few pictures before she roused them.

_They were growing up so fast_.

_Are you ever going to come see me and our babies, anata?  It’s been so very long._  She thought forlornly as she made breakfast.  But before she could slide too far into the familiar heartache that the absence of her husband always left within her, Tsuna came tumbling into the kitchen with a laughing Terasu at his back and her world brighten and lightened and started moving forward once more.

“I win!”  Terasu called brightly as Tsuna rolled his eyes and accepted his sister’s hand up with a very brotherly sense of long-suffering.

“You cheated!”

“I’m adorable, therefore I can’t cheat!”

Tsuna spluttered indignantly.  “That’s not even a _thing_!”  He spun to face Nana.  “Mama!  Tell Tera-chan that’s that’s not a thing!”

Nana tipped her head back and _laughed_.

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	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: A thousand thanks to the lovely InsaneScriptist who caught a few continuity errors and helped me out a great deal with some of the mechanics of this chapter!
> 
> You’re awesome, InsaneScriptist~!
> 
> Also, this chapter gets a bit dark towards the end. The purpose is to showcase that while Terasu has made a positive impact on many people, they are still inherently dangerous.

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Byakuran Gesso was a schemer and he was entirely unashamed of this fact.  So what if he enjoyed poking and prodding things to see how they reacted? 

The white-haired Gesso Heir leaned back in his rather comfortable office chair and allowed his thoughts to wander.

In his younger years he had been quite cruel, hiding his goals behind the innocent smile of a curious child.  However, Byakuran had always been smarter, faster, _better_ than the other children around him.  He’d always been disgusted by their penchant for snotty, noisy breakdown over inane reasons and positively resented them for acting as if _he_ was the defective one because he never engaged in such unsightly behaviors.

Yes, Byakuran could look back now and truly appreciate just how disconnected and detached he had been before the Little Queen had found her way into his life.

Terasu Sawada was an angel with a spine of steel; a heart draped in gold; and a will forged of diamond. 

Prior to meeting her Byakuran had been terribly, wretchedly lonely, (not that he would have ever admitted such a fact- such things were beneath him), but he had not wanted to be attached to anyone else his age.  Even his Mother and Father, for all the familial loyalty he felt towards them- particularly his Mother- were distant figures to him.  He had never personally experienced the true impact that loving someone could have on a person from a first-person point of view.

Byakuran still was not sure if what he felt towards the Little Queen was love, but it was the closest he had ever come to such a thing.  It was not lust, he knew that much.  Not only was Terasu much too young for that sort of attraction to take place; even envisioning her as an older version of herself did not stir any sort of lustful anticipation within him. 

Rather Byakuran felt possessive of her. 

Not in the way a lover would- at least, as far as he could tell- but in the way a family member or emotionally-invested body guard would.  He wanted Terasu safe.  He wanted her to smile.  He wanted her to laugh at him when he tried to cook.  Byakuran wanted to watch from his favorite chair as Terasu gently teased her brother until Tsuna turned that particular my-sister-is-a-menace-but-I-adore-her shade of red.  He wanted to watch as Terasu humored Shōichi and danced while the red-head played one of his various instruments.  He wanted to watch Terasu dance around the Sawada kitchen with her Mama, laughing brightly and then brightening even more when she spotted him lurking in the doorway.

_“Well, don’t just stand there, ‘Kuran-kun!”  Terasu laughed delightedly as she bounced over to him, cheeks flushed red from the heat of the kitchen and exertion from dancing.  Her bright green eyes had been shining with warmth and home and mischief as she grabbed his hand and dragged him into the room.  “Dance with Mama and I!”_

Byakuran wanted Terasu to exist simply as herself.  Because Terasu’s very existence provided him with warmth he had never known he had been yearning for before he’d stumbled upon her in that dark alleyway.  He never wanted to go back to the constant state of grey that he had been trapped within before that moment. 

Not ever.  Furthermore, he knew _couldn’t_ go back to how he had been before Terasu, not without going _utterly insane_.

So while Terasu forced him look at his past actions and realize things he did not particularly enjoy realizing about himself, he refused to give her up.  She was his- _his light, his kindness, his epicenter_ \- and _nothing_ would take her away from him.  Therefore all of his plans, all of his schemes, were plotted out for and around Terasu so that he could keep her safe and sheltered and protected.

The thing that amazed him was that Terasu _knew_ that he was a plotting, possessive jerk and she allowed him to stay.  She did not demand things from him- which he would give her, because her whim was essentially his command- nor did she flaunt her obvious control over him as some sort of twisted conquest.  Instead she just smiled at him with frustratingly kind, understanding eyes and pulled him in to dance with her or to drag him off to cause mischief with her, until his darkest thoughts were once again burned away by her cheerful radiance and unwavering warmth.

May Heaven show mercy to any fool who would dare harm her, because Byakuran Gesso would grant them _none_.

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There was a light knock on the door.  “Byakuran-sama?”  Kikyō’s somewhat muffled voice called from the other side of the thick wooden door.

Byakuran blinked a few times before calling out for his subordinate to enter.  A few moments later, the greenet did so, the door sliding open soundlessly over the plush carpet and closing again with a soft _click_ behind the other man.

“Byakuran-sama.”  Kikyō repeated as he quickly crossed the room and rounded the desk.  “I have the final reports from the house in Japan.”

“Oho?”  Byakuran murmured as he took the file from his subordinate gestured for the other man to take a seat.  “They finally finished construction, then?”

“Yes, Byakuran-sama.”  Kikyō told him, going into further detail once prompted to do so by his Boss.  “The area it was in was involved in a major natural disaster several years back, as you were already aware.  Due to the massive amount of damage and the uncontained contamination caused by the damage to several different facilities, the land was ruled as being toxic by the environmental surveyors.”  The minty-hair-colored man readjusted himself a little as he popped a small flash drive into the laptop he had opened on his lap and tapped a few keys before a projection appeared on drop-down projection screen that had been lowered in front of the bookcase that lined the eastern wall of the office.

“These are the before pictures.”  Kikyō continued pleasantly.  “As you can see, Byakuran-sama, the area had mostly been abandoned after the natural disaster- a mudslide followed by some flash flooding, if I am not mistaken- swept through.  The crews need to dig quite a bit to get down to the previously-exposed areas so they could be properly decontaminated.  This process took several months.”  After about a dozen or so pictures showcasing how the clean-up efforts had progressed, Kikyō continued.  “Once the crews could confirm that the area had been properly decontaminated, then they could begin the task of stabilizing the ground, this took another few months.”  Once again Kikyō showcased a dozen or so pictures that had shown the project’s progress.

“Well.”  Byakuran commented mildly as his lavender gaze quickly flitted over the pictures.  “They certainly did excellent work, even if they took a bit longer than I originally anticipated.”

Kikyō hummed lightly in agreement.  “Though Japan isn’t particularly known for them, the crews wanted to be sure that the land would not develop a sinkhole or crumble underneath the structure during another season of heavy rain or during an earthquake.  The outer edges of the property were also shored up in such a way that another mudslide would be diverted to the lowest part of the property, which is furthest away from the structure.”

“Oho?”  Byakuran said, one eyebrow rising slightly in pleased surprise.  “I didn’t expect them to go that far, I assumed we would need to add such a feature later on.  Kikyō, make a note of their excellent work and make sure I use that company for anything else I might need done in their area of operation.”

“Yes, Byakuran-sama.”  Kikyō replied dutifully, tapping his green-painted nails against the keyboard as he made a note of his Boss’s order.  “Back to the project, once the crews were satisfied with the condition of the land, construction commenced on the main structure and the landscaping.  As ordered, the architectural style of the house is rather traditional.”  Kikyō tapped a few keys and displayed a new series of pictures.  “The stacked roofs are sloped and flare out at the edges, and following local superstition, the house has five stories.  As odd numbers are generally associated with yang and are considered lucky.”   

“It looks very quaint, yet sophisticated.”  Byakuran murmured approvingly.  “I think the Little Queen will adore it~! Spanner just might go into raptures when he sees it.  Let alone when he finds out he’s going to be living there.  He’s been staying with Shō-chan up until now.  I think Shō-chan’s parents think Spanner is a foreign exchange student or something of that nature.”

Kikyō snorted softly in amusement, but carried on with his report.  “As you ordered the ground floor has been made to look much like it would have looked during the _Edo_ period.  This means linked verandas that open up to the outdoors and sliding doors that can be used to rearrange the layout of the floor at will.  We acquired a number of replicas and knickknacks to decorate the ground floor, as it will be mostly used for passing through or meetings.  Possibly for relaxing occasionally, I suppose.”

Byakuran laughed out loud.  “Yes, I wanted people to look at the outside and the first floor and decide that the house had almost no modern technology.  Not only will it be greatly amusing to watch Spanner go into raptures over the ‘authentic’ ground floor, it will give anyone who tried to infiltrate us the entirely wrong ideas about our security.”

“Indeed.”  Kikyō replied blandly, though he was amused at his Boss’s narrative of the eternally jumpsuit-clad Spanner.  “Behind a rather lovely wooden screen- called a _byōbu_ , if I am not mistaken- is the keypad for the other floors.  Once the code is entered, the panel gives way to a small entryway.  There are two reinforced doors barring the way up and down, though the room is decorated to seem like a small powder room, complete with a mirror.  The door on the left is the entry way to the two underground levels, while the door to the right goes up to the upper floors, which are living quarters.  All the other levels are quite modern, and while there are a _few_ power lines going to the house, most of the energy is provided by renewable sources- solar, wind, etc. - so as not to arouse suspicion.”

“Excellent.”  Byakuran pronounced as pictures of the upper floors were displayed on the screen.  “Now all that’s left is to have Shō-chan take pictures of Spanner’s reactions when he sees the place.  Those pictures will entertain me for ages.  I might frame one and give it to Mama.”

“Yes, Byakuran-sama.”  Kikyō replied dutifully as he tapped away at his keyboard.

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Tsuna and Terasu felt the loss of their mentors keenly even though their lives only grew busier.  So it was that the next few months sped passed and it was all the Sawada siblings could do to keep on top of everything. 

They were extra careful about where they practiced with their Flames, though.  They had no intention of letting their mentors down!

Around March, Spanner was finally able to move in to the house bought by Byakuran with some of his earnings from profitable business deals that he had made on behalf of his father’s various companies.

Shōichi had followed the blonde around taking pictures and Spanner’s reactions to everything had almost been more exciting than the house itself!  Granted, Tsuna still didn’t know what to make of Spanner’s nearly zealous devotion of Mama.  However, even Tsuna laughed himself silly watching the blonde bounce around the ground floor babbling in nearly unintelligible Italian.

The two underground floors held Labs and training areas, too!  So Terasu and Tsuna had somewhere to practice and Spanner and Shoichi could tinker to their heart’s content! 

Byakuran was _awesome_!

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With dance classes, rehearsals, club activities, music lessons, and school Terasu’s schedule was already pretty packed.  However she _really_ wanted to learn how to use her daggers properly and she figured if she took lessons on how to wield a staff she would be able to apply most of those lessons to her other weapon.

As long as she knew how to train without hurting herself, she could practice at the Gesso house anyways.

Terasu had decided to call her Harmony weapon Hermione- at least to herself.  Terasu felt that the description of a reinforced spine topped with a sharp edge described her late best friend perfectly.  The tip on the end that could either dig in and help Terasu hold her ground or lash out against those who thought her beaten also felt like something her late best friend would have approved of.  Terasu had not named her daggers yet, but she felt that when she stumbled across the perfect names for them it would just feel right.

While she did not often reflect on her life as Harry, she still held every memory of that life close to her heart.  Terasu knew that she might have some issues when puberty came along as she had to deal with _girl_ _issues_ , but Terasu was just who she was now.  Harry was who she had been and was in her every action, every breath but the fact that her new life come with a different gender was more of a blessing than a curse, really.  Terasu, as a girl, was free in a way she did not think she could have been if she had been born a boy.  Plus, she got to be adorable and bright and dote on her brother all she wanted without anyone interfering.  She was able to help Mama in the kitchen and still be fierce when the situation called for it.

Yes, being Terasu suited her just fine.

_Still_.  Terasu thought as she struggled through her homework, grateful that Haru had given her some tips before the other girl had gotten involved in her own homework.  _I won’t ever forget being Harry.  I won’t ever forget Mum or Dad or Sirius or Remus or Hermione or Mrs. Weasley or anyone that I loved **then** because they help me cherish the ones that I love **now**.  I’m grateful to them and I won’t allow this new chance to slip by because I went all broody-idiot.  Mama needs me, Tsuna needs me, and all my friends.  I won’t ever let them down, not if I can help it._

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Belphegor of the Varia sneered condescendingly as he wiped his blade clean on the dead peasant’s shirt. 

As much as the Prince enjoyed culling the useless peasants who tried to rise above their appointed station, he was getting irritable.  It had been nearly six months since he last saw the Little Queen and the Fluffy Dragon and that made him unhappy.  Bel was slightly mollified to know that Lussuria was also suffering from Little-Queen-withdrawal, but even that knowledge did not ease the rising tide of irritation that was roiling inside him.

The Varia were doing their best to find out who was responsible for the death of Massimo, but all the leads were tangled and disjointed.  Xanxus had been under suspicion and though he was cleared, there were plenty of suspicions eyes watching his every move.

Unsurprisingly, intense scrutiny made it rather difficult to run an Independent Assassination Squad.

Xanxus’ inability _to do his job_ had only made Boss more snappish and irritable, which filtered down to the Officers, and then the rest of the Varia.  Twitchy assassins _do not_ a pleasant bunch make.

Of course that was _before_ Xanxus had gone to retrieve some personal effects from the Vongola mansion and had subsequently been labeled as being ‘indisposed’.  The Varia were trying their damndest to piece it all together, but all they had unearthed thus far was that Xanxus was attacked near his rooms and only Nono and CEDEF-Sawada actually knew the details.  Mammon’s tracking trick placed Boss at the Vongola’s Iron Fort, though, so something strange was happening, despite Nono’s bullshit excuses.

Bel scowled as he made his way out of the underground base he had been tasked with cleansing, blinking rapidly when he made it to the ground floor as the ambient outdoor light hurt his eyes for a brief moment.

_On top of not being able to see the Little Queen and our professional problems, I truly want to stab one of my knives in Iemitsu’s gut_.  Bel thought disgustedly as he casually slipped out the back of the building and circled around before blending into the late-afternoon crowd.  His uniform was spotless as this was one of his quieter missions.  _Just last week I had to get special permission from Squalo to take out a double-agent in the CEDEF just to protect the Little Queen and the Fluffy Dragon.  I rarely even have contact with the CEDEF!_  He ranted mentally as he slipped down a side-street and headed towards his previously parked vehicle. 

The vehicle was covered in Mist flames with some ambient Tranquility thrown in, naturally.  Bel did not deal with sub-standard equipment!  Of course, since Bel was a Prince his attendant was also waiting for him. 

Bel had three Varia underlings who acted as his personal attendant, this one was his Mist attendant as he usually required some manner of concealment whenever he finished a job. 

There was his Storm Division Second-in-Command, Haldìr, who was actually a Rain-Storm.  The man was also fairly old by Varia standards- he was pushing forty, actually- but he was steadfast and nothing short of deadly to any who dared oppose him.  The tall, lithe dark-haired man had nearly waist length hair that was usually drawn up into a high tail.  The chest-length bangs that usually obscured the left side of his face hid the temple-to-collarbone jagged-edged scar that Haldìr had had for as long as he had been with the Varia.  The man’s visible violet eye was usually set towards the emotion of ‘blandly neutral’ and Ottabio was _terrified_ of him.

Truthfully, Haldìr was more of a Rain than a Storm, but he was positively _indispensable_ to the young Storm Officer. 

Bel was mostly indifferent towards the other two, although they did have their uses. 

Then there was Vivacità, who was the only Sun other than Lussuria who was cleared to treat Bel.  The short dark-skinned woman had a tendency to constantly change her shortly-cropped hair’s color- she preferred incandescent shades and eccentric color collaborations- and was a member of Varia Medical, which was a sub-division of Sun Division.  Actually, Vivacità was Varia Medical’s best physician.  She was sharp-tongued and easily distracted, but would forgive nearly anything when given the proper amounts of caramel-filled chocolates.

Lastly, there was Trance of Mist Division who acted as Bel’s chauffeur whenever the Storm Officer went out on a short-term solo mission.  If the mission was scheduled to last more than three days Haldìr or Vivacità were generally assigned to the team, as Mammon did _not_ like to lose his favorite Mist Squad Leader for any longer than absolutely necessary.  Bel suspected that Trance was genderfliud, as the Mist Division member was constantly altering the perception of his physical form.  Bel had personally witnessed Trace project himself as being everything from seven-feet tall and broad shouldered to four-and-a-half feet tall and precariously petite.  Trance always wore his cherished pink-and-indigo bracelet around his left wrist though, so Bel usually had no trouble picking the Mist out from any manner of crowd.  The Mist also had the quirky habit of projecting his thoughts instead of speaking verbally, so he was a rather silent companion, even though Bel did actually more-than-tolerate the Mist’s company.

Bel’s internal musings lasted long enough for him to be properly situated inside the vehicle and he lazily observed Trance as the Mist started the ignition and pulled out of the alleyway into the light traffic.  After they had successfully merged with the stream of traffic and Bel was certain that he could not spot any tails, the blonde Prince returned to his thoughts. 

Bel knew he was twisted, broken somehow in a way that would never be truly mended.  He had known that from long before the moment he had realized that his worthless Father was going to crown Rasiel as the Heir to the Throne.  Rasiel had been even more broken than Bel!  Despite Rasiel outperforming Bel, there had been a true sense of brutality and malice that had lurked within the other blonde that had surprised even Bel with its depths.

Knowing that Rasiel would only lead the kingdom to ruin, Bel had killed his brother, mother, and Father.  This would, naturally, preclude Bel from taking the Throne himself, but it would allow Bel’s uncle to step up and rule.  Quite frankly, Bel had been quite impressed with his uncle’s performance as King.  It helped that Bel’s uncle was a true royal and understood what sort of a sacrifice that Bel had made for the Kingdom, and therefore allocated quite a generous stipend for the young self-exiled Prince.

Bel had found the Varia shortly after his tenure into self-exile and once Xanxus had swept in and took over the young Prince had joined the organization properly.  Xanxus was the brutal sort of Boss that Bel could respect- did respect- and Xanxus understood _why_ Bel had needed to test him before deciding to follow him.  Only someone with a Royal mindset could understand such a series of events, and Bel had quite happily fallen in behind the man once he’d been bested.  Bel occasionally did spar against Boss, of course, but the red-eyed man never slipped into stagnation or weakness, which kept Bel, (and his Royal pride), content.

Finding Terasu Sawada had been entirely unexpected.

The Prince had enjoyed her performance so thoroughly that he had dragged Mammy and Lussuria back with him when he went to pick up his sushi order.  Both of them had been duly impressed by the Little Queen as well- to be expected, really- and they had barged into her dressing room to meet her- and get her measure.

The Little Queen had been a bit startled at their abrupt appearance, but had recovered quickly and had proceeded to be dignified, elegant, and respectful.  Bel’s interest in her had been peaked, as had Mammy and Lussuria’s, so he spent the next few months stalking her whenever he was in town for sushi, (which Mammy had developed a sudden fondness for after the incident).  He had been content to wait and see until that rabble of ill-bred plebeians had not only insulted the Little Queen, but attacked her!

She and her brother had fought well, but they were far from Quality and heavily outnumbered, so the Prince had felt obligated to assist.

The Little Queen had displayed the same poise, elegance, and respect as before and Bel had deigned to indulge her request to accompany her to her home to meet her Mama.  The Little Queen had displayed a lovely balance of humor and respect, and Bel had been rather attached to her from that moment forward. 

That Bel’s attachment to the Little Queen and the Fluffy Dragon remained after finding out that the _idiot CEDEF Boss_ was their father was rather telling, in hindsight, at least.

Bel was not entirely sure when it had happened, but at some point the Little Queen and the Fluffy Dragon had transitioned from being amusing to being important.  Terasu was all light and kindness until someone struck out against her brother or mother and then she raged as only a true Royal was capable of doing.  Tsuna, as well, had a Royal bearing once his mother or sister were threatened.  Neither of the children truly thought like a Royal- not yet, at least- as neither of them valued their own lives near enough. 

However, over time they had become important to Bel and Bel was a _Prince_.  Princes did _not_ allow harm to come to those they deemed important.  Not unless they were doing the harming, anyways.

Lussuria had become quite fond of the Sawada children as well, and through the two Officer’s constant visits Mammy had developed some degree of affection for them.

It irritated Bel to no apparent end that he was unable to even go get sushi- which, in and of itself was an annoyance- and maybe catch a glimpse of the Little Queen as Sawada Iemitsu had actually stationed a few people near Namimori to watch over his family and a few other almost-Vongola assets.  Those people were investigators, not assassins or Hitmen! 

How, exactly,  would they be able to correctly identify a clear and present danger, report to their Boss, and get approval to move in before something happened to the Little Queen or the Fluffy Dragon?

Bel took a deep breath and very deliberately brought his emotions back under his usual iron grip.  _Those peasants didn’t even know about the spy in their midst._   He mentally sneered as they drove through the Mist Barrier and he presented his Varia ID to the Side Gate Flame-sensitive Card Reader.  Once the reader cleared him- only Bel needed to log in because Trace was listed as his companion on the internal Varia Missions Itinerary, and Bel was the one who had technically been assigned to the mission- and the gate dissolved.   They slowly traveled the next half-mile to the inner gate and he punched in his personal identification number on another Flame-sensitive device, moving forward once that gate dissolved and the cool automated confirmed Bel’s pending audience with the Varia Commander.

The automated system would alert Squalo that Bel had arrived from his mission and would soon be reporting in.  After Bel finished his After-Action report Squalo would go in and mark Bel as being ‘Present and on Standby’.  The Main Gate was easier to pass through, but it also had live agents manning them and Bel didn’t feel like dealing with people at the moment.

Something that Trance had picked up on, Bel would have to report such exemplary conduct to Mammy so the operative would be duly rewarded.

Once they had made it to the side-entrance to Varia HQ, Trance allowed Bel to disembark.  The blonde Prince quickly scaled the steps and entered Varia HQ, nimbly hopping over a few Varia traps as he made his way through the halls to Squalo’s office so he could report in and then either go sleep for a week or terrorize some of the newbies _.  I hope that the Fluffy Dragon is keeping himself in top form._   He thought as a rather disturbing grin formed, making the nearby operative give him a wider-than-usual berth.  _Or he’ll be in for a great deal of pain when I return.  This mess can’t take forever for us to get to the bottom of, after all.  Hmm, I wonder if the white-haired peasant has any new information for me?  I should have Lussuria check, he can move about without causing as much concern and I don’t want Sawada to suddenly clue-in to exactly whom his children are friendly with._

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It was one of the few afternoons that neither Tsuna nor Haru were with her.  Haru was caught up with the costume design team at Yumei, as Shōichi had recommended her and her grades were outstanding enough that the Club Sponsor did not mind that Haru was still an elementary student.  Haru’s sharp eye and creative solutions had ensured her continued acceptance, and when the term had started Haru had been astounded and excited to learn that her participation counted as her official Club Activity.

_“Having a recommendation from a Club Sponsor at Yumei will give me some extra help in getting into Midori!  I’m so happy, desu!”  She’d all but squealed, Terasu dancing around with her as her friend had rejoiced at the exciting news, having come straight to Terasu’s house to tell her best friend all about the new development._

Tsuna as well had been noticed for his rather intuitive talent for sketching people.  He still was not a pro and sometimes the people looked more like potatoes due to their disproportionate features, but Tsuna had a knack for conveying emotions through his art.  To help him further his talent one of the local high schoolers was getting Club credit for their club to tutor Tsuna a few afternoons a week.  Terasu had been hesitant at first and had skipped her own club activities to spy and ensure that the high schooler treated her brother _properly_ , but after a few sessions of observing she had been satisfied. 

_I kind of want to drop my music lessons so I can take some weapons classes._   She thought as she absently waved to the school gate-guard and turned her feet towards the Sawada home.  _I don’t want Shō-kun to feel upset, though_.  She bit her lip as she tried to think of a way to talk to her music-obsessed friend about dropping her music lessons.

Tsuna favored the piano, while Terasu had switched to the violin after only a few lessons.  Shōichi could play several types of instruments, while Byakuran could play the piano as well.  Terasu could also play the basic chords on the acoustic guitar, but nothing overly fancy.  She probably could if she practiced more, but she really did not have the time- and, truth be told, the inclination to do so. 

_It’s not that I don’t like being able to read music and play when I want to._   She thought as the warm mid-spring wind tugged playfully at a few of her errant curls. 

The older she got, the curlier her hair turned out to be.  Mama had laughed at her confusion and had confessed that her Mama- Mama’s Mama, that is- had had the same thing happen to her.  Mama had confessed that she had been a little sad that she had not inherited her mother’s pretty curls, but had tenderly smoothed Terasu’s hair and confided that she was happy to see them on Terasu. 

_It’s just it’s not my passion._   Terasu thought as she quickly glanced around before deciding to take the short-cut home.  _Tsu-nii kind of wants to stop taking dance classes as well, but we’re committed to the performances.  Hm._   Terasu’s brows furrowed as she ambled along and thought about her scheduling conflicts.  _Maybe he can team up with Shō-kun and help the orchestra instead of performing or being a stagehand?_

Tsuna had performed a few times, but he suffered from a rather terrible case stage fright.  He’d gotten to where he could overcome it and speak his lines, but he much preferred making sure everything was running smoothly or watching Terasu perform.  Even being an usher when they had started to utilize such a position to prevent arguments breaking out or so that the little old ladies could get good seats without issue.

Prince Bel was actually an usher once; he was surprisingly good with little old ladies and absolutely refused to allow them to be seated in such a way that they would be unable to see the stage well. 

Terasu snickered to herself as she remembered Tsuna’s shock at seeing Prince Bel be absolutely delightful to the little old ladies and then turn around and be entirely bloodthirsty and intimidating to any unfortunate idiots who tried to make the happily-seated ladies move.

_Still, I’d like to add a weapon’s class and those meet four times a week, minimum._   Terasu thought rather forlornly as she readjusted her messenger bag, thankful that she did not have tennis practice that afternoon, and thus only had the one bag.  _I guess I could-_

A sharp, unwelcome chill slid down her spine, and she was already moving before she fully processed what her Intuition was trying to scream at her.  Her time under Lussuria had allowed her to learn how to ignore the little nudges so she would not constantly have a headache, but it had also sharpened her response time when her Intuition warned her of imminent danger.

She crouched low to the ground as her shoes skidded across the street’s concrete, one hand thrown in front of her to help with her balance.  A quick glance around showed that her area of the street was being strangely avoided, which told her that this was not a fluke and more than likely this was a Flame user that was attacking her.  This was a side-street that did not get much traffic anyways, but it was still strange that on her side of the street for the entire block was devoid of traffic.

She narrowed her green eyes and tried to spot her attacker.  “Show yourself.”  She spat viciously.

“What an adorable little girl.”  Her attacker purred malevolently.  “You’ll be a fine addition to my boss’s collection.”

Terasu cocked her head to the side and slid into a more defensible stance, one that Lussuria taught her.  It was made to look as if she was unthreatening and scared, but positioned her in such a way that she could respond quickly to an attack from just about any direction.  “What do you want?” 

The man’s lips were the only thing truly visible under the hooded jacket he was wearing, but his laugh was malicious enough to make up for the lack of expression that she could see.  “Oh, a feisty one, eh?  Well, we’ll break you of that soon enough, little girl.  You should fetch a decent price for that honor as well.”  Then the man moved, and Terasu was forced to slide towards the alleyway to avoid the strike he’d aimed at her neck- presumably to render her unconscious.

Terasu jumped back and hit the quick-release on her bag and used a trash can lid to flip backwards.  The man had acquired a knife at that point and she could sense at least two people at the other end of the alley.  _Guess I need to use them, sorry_.  It was the work of moments to reach up and snatch her hair sticks out of her hair, causing some of her curls to tumble down from their previously-pinned position.  She wore her hair sticks behind a decorative clip that covered the fluffy pony-tail scrunchie that kept her hair in place, mostly because Lussuria had been quite clear about not allowing her hair to fly loose unless she felt that she could prevent her enemy from using it against her.  So while some of her looser curls now brushed against her shoulders, for the most part her hair was still secured.

“Going to use those sticks against me, little girl?”  The man sneered at her.  “I’m so scared.”

Terasu bared her teeth.  “You should be.”

“Oi!  Hurry up!”  Someone called out from the other end of the alley.

“Play time is over, brat.”  The man said as he moved forward again, but this time Terasu was ready for him.

_You are allowed to defend yourself with lethal force._   It was one of Lussuria’s earliest lessons, and while she still had nightmares about what she’d done when those thugs had tried to kidnap her, Shōichi, and Tsuna she had also had plenty of time to comes to terms with the fact that she would annihilate anyone who threatened her family- and keeping herself safe to be able to go home to them was part of the deal.

So Terasu took one last steadying breath and used her Flames to call for her daggers.  A moment later they were in her hands and she was rushing forward to meet her enemy- for that was what he was now, an enemy as opposed to a mere opponent.  He managed to cut her shoulder and shear off a few of her curls when she came into range.  She preserved, though, and slashed at his chest as she used her Activation to spring off of his arm and vault over his head, Lussuria’s teachings preventing her from being grabbed or body checked.  She landed a bit awkwardly and winced as her ankle throbbed, but quickly turned back towards her enemy.

The man’s hood had fallen and his dark eyes only added to his imposing figure.  “What was that supposed to do, tickle?  He sneered condescendingly at her as he looked at his entirely unmarred chest.

“No.”  Terasu said, controlling her breathing and wondering why the hell no one was interfering.  “It wasn’t.”

Activation was Lussuria’s playground, and he had taught her well.

A jagged tear appeared in the man’s jacket and blood began to flow from the wound that ran from around his bellybutton to his left shoulder.

“What the fuck?”  He cursed as he looked down about the same time the pain registered.  “You little _whore_!”  He roared as his eye lit with rage and he leapt forward again.

Terasu was scared, terrified even but she refused to give up.  She ducked under his wild swipe and flowed around his reaching grab before she moved around him and thrust one of her daggers into his right kidney.  She quickly pulled it back out and dropped down to cut the Achilles tendon on his left ankle before springing back away.

He went down with a bellow of rage, unfortunately, the two at the end of the alley had decided to come assist her enemy and they looked even more intimidating with their clearly yakuza tattoos and shortened appendages.

Yakuza tended to give the whole idea of tattoos in Japan a bad rap.  The organized crime syndicates used the traditional method of inserting ink under the skin known as _irezumi_ , (which was an incredibly painful process), and the tattoos were not only seen as marks of bravery but ownership by the ‘family’.  If that common wives tale was not enough to identify them, the missing sections of their left pinky fingers were- as whenever a member of the crime syndicates did something they needed to atone for, they were required to chop off a section of their own finger.  Most Yakuza were missing at least the tip of their left pinky, while others were missing their entire pinky and then parts of other fingers as well, but it varied depending on how big of a transgression or how many transgressions.

The man who attacked her originally was apparently very obedient or new, as she had not noticed his pinky being shorter.  The two bearing down on her now, however, were much easier to identify.

“Shit.”  One of them said, his lit cigarette dangling from his lips.  “We need to get her and get out be-  _Fuck_.”

Terasu did not bother to look at what had caught their attention; she dove forward while they were distracted.  She gracefully darted around the biggest brute and cleanly cut through the muscles and tendons behind his left knee, (as cleanly to the bone as possible, just as Lussuria had taught her), and most of the muscles and tendons behind his right knee before she was forced to duck and skip backwards.  As she irritably blew her bangs out of her eyes she noticed that the new arrival seemed to be a boy about her age, who was wielding an oddly shaped metal weapon.

Well, she was assuming it was metal, it flashed brightly in what little light managed to infiltrate the alleyway.

The man she’d hamstrung was now down on his knees whimpering, she guessed he was not screaming so as not to attract even more attention.  He was lying on his stomach and he was twitching erratically, and the new arrival was taking care of Henchmen Number Two, so she turned her gaze back towards the first man she had taken down and her heart immediately leapt to her throat.

He was pointing a gun right at her face, a snarl of rage plastered to his face and madness in his eyes.

Terasu did not give herself time to think, she acted.

The echo of the shot ricocheted off the alley walls and then-

_So this is what it feels like to die.  Again._   Terasu thought rather bemusedly as darkness claimed her.  She smiled, however, as the nearly-unnoticeable background noise of city life faded out to static.  _Take care of Mama, Tsu…._

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Nameda Ito had no idea what was happening.  A few weeks ago they had been sent on a grocery run for fresh girls to be trained up to be Hostesses for the Clan.  Things had been going well and they were making their last stop when it had all gone to hell.

Ito was far from vain, but he was fairly high up in the national chain of command for his Yakuza syndicate.  He had to be, for one of his men to actually have a gun to use, as guns were highly restricted in Japan.  The Yakuza syndicate Ito belonged to was based out of Kobe, and they had operations in every corner of Japan’s authority.

Ito was in charge of the acquisition of new ‘high-quality merchandise’.  Meaning, he and his team regularly went out to the smaller, remote areas such as Namimori and found younger teenage girls- and the occasional boys- who could serve as ‘Hostesses’ for the syndicate.  Taking a small-city style teens to a huge metropolis such a Tokyo, Kobe, or Kitakyushu was usually enough of a culture shock to keep them off-balance long enough for their ‘training’ to begin.

If they were particularly feisty the trainers brought out the ‘We know where your family lives and we’ll kill them if you run’ lines along with some pretty brutal punishments.  Nothing permanently scarring, of course, that would harm the bottom line.  After they began their ‘trade’ then shame was used to break them of even having running as an option- usually variations of ‘Do you want your parents to know what you’ve done?’ or ‘Do you think they would want you back once we’ve told them about your shameful actions?’.

That was usually enough to keep them quiet and submissive.

Namimori, despite its notorious Hibari family, was small enough and removed enough- due to its mountainous location- that the law enforcement agencies did not have the proper contacts to find someone hidden by one of the nation-wide syndicates.  The Hibari family was a concern, but there were only so many of them.  Therefore Namimori had been a decent risk.

Or so he’d thought.

It should have been an easy mark.  An elementary age girl not paying attention walking passed the alleyway the rest of the team had been keeping clear thanks to a few re-appropriated maintenance signs, (which the little bitch had walked right past).  Rin had grabbed her, but then the little witch had actually shown some good fighting moves, not those glorified movie-inspired ones that most brats tried to throw out _and_ she’d somehow been armed!  Who the fuck gives little girls daggers anyways?

When he and Ren had moved into take her out once she’d managed to put Ren down, then things had gotten worse!  That little Hibari fucker had dropped down out of absolutely nowhere!  Sure, the _shateigashara_ in charge of their local branch of the syndicate had warned them not to get caught by the Hibari Clan, but they had made certain the Clan Head had been out of town and his wife had passed away nearly half a decade ago!  The only Hibari in residence that day had been the brat and the great-grandmother, who was his caretaker.

No big deal, right?

The kid fought like a demon, but Rin had managed to get his piece and had been aiming at the brat when the little bitch had thrown herself in front of the shot!  Not only that, but after he had shot her she had kept moving!  With a bullet inside her and blood spewing everywhere she had continued forward and planted one of her daggers into Rin’s neck and damn near ripped out his throat.  She went down soon after, but Rin was already dead.

The Hibari brat made short work of Ren and quickly secured Ito himself before whipping out s cell phone that had to be at least a year pre-market and calling for an ambulance.  The brat had noticed Ito looking at him and had knocked him out.

The question was: now that he was awake, why was he in some sort of basement instead of in police custody? 

Ito tested his legs and grimaced. 

New question: why was he in a basement instead of in protective custody at the hospital?

The door opened and a white-haired brat came in, trailed by some sort of girly-man with green hair, and a psychotically grinning little blonde fucker.

“Ushishihi.”  The blonde hissed, the sound raking over Ito’s senses like a firebrand.

_The blonde is dangerous_.  He noted frantically as the door swung shut with a resounding thump and the three of them formed a half-circle with the white-haired brat in the middle.

“So.”  The brat said, eyes closed lightly and a pleasant smile on his face that was in direct opposition to the treacherous purr that the words had been uttered in.

_Can brats that young even purr properly?_  Ito wondered as he tried to think of a way out of the situation.

Then the white-haired brat’s eyes slitted open just a fraction and Ito felt all hope of surviving this shrivel up and _die_.  Because the lavender-colored eyes that were gazing at him were only about two shades off from complete insanity.  There was no mercy, no kindness, no room for negotiating, hiding behind those lovely eyes.  There was just a tempest of fury and black, unforgiving rage waiting to be unleashed.

Ito prayed to his ancestors that his death would be quick and that his brothers would take revenge.

Then the white-haired brat through his head back and _laughed_.

It was not a cheerful sound.

“Ushishishi.”  The blonde hissed once more.  “We will send you back to your brothers, _filthy peasant_.”

“But not until we’ve made an example out of you.”  The white-haired brat took up seamlessly and Ito lost control of his baser functions, causing all three to sneer at him condescendingly.  “You see.”  The white-haired one said pleasantly as he walked a slow circuit around Ito.  “We want everyone to know what will happen should they decide to harm out Little Queen.”  The brat stopped right in front of Ito and gave him an infuriatingly faux-cheerful closed-eye smile.  “Unfortunately for _you_ the other two are already dead.  So you’re the only one who can be used as a messenger.”  The brat straightened back up and gave Ito a fury filled, haughty glower.  “Oh, and don’t worry.  Our resident Prince took care of the rest of your little syndicate and you’ve already been cut loose by your _oyabun_ , but we want to ensure that the message sinks in, hm?”

“There were over two hundred full-fledged members of our branch of the syndicate.”  Ito croaked out as condescendingly as he could around his dry, swollen tongue.  “There’s no way-“

High, ringing laughter tinged with insanity and bloodlust resounded through the room and Ito shuddered involuntarily. 

“Ah, there were two hundred and sixty three altogether.”  The blonde informed him with a savage grin.  “There were many who fell before the Prince’s knives.  They should be grateful that the Little Queen does not approve of torture or We would have done more than offer them mostly-clean deaths.”

“You’re _monsters_.”  Ito whispered in despair.  “Fiends.  _Devils_.”

The white-haired brat was handed a knife by the green-haired man and raised an eyebrow.  “Yes.  We are.”  He admitted glibly.  “But we have sworn ourselves to someone worthy of wielding us, someone who preserves what humanity we have left.  Our light and anchor and everything that could be called good and right in our twisted, tangled genius minds.”  The lavender gaze was fairly blazing as the brat stepped forward and pressed the dulled edge of the blade to Ito’s temple.  “And you, you pathetic waste of flesh, dared to sully that.  To take her from us.”  The smile that painted itself onto the brat’s face was dark and dangerous.  “And your body will tell any others who dared to even dream of retaliation a story of devils, fiends, and monsters and _what happens when you cross them_.”  The smile turned lighter.  “Now, sing for me, _worthless filth_.”

Ito screamed.

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**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ‘People are people, wherever you go’. I mention that because I am in no way trying to paint a certain country or race as being ‘evil’. There are assholes everywhere and not all of the threats posed to Tsuna and Terasu are strictly Mafia-oriented.
> 
> I hope I have shown that Terasu- while being a powerful, captivating Sky- is not a Mary-Sue. I also hope I have sufficiently addressed the ‘Harry-is-Terasu’ conundrum and that she no longer feels like an ‘OC’. 
> 
> I want to assure you that Harry is in everything Terasu does.


	7. Chapter 7

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Tsuna would never forget the way his entire world splintered and fractured when Byakuran had called and informed him that Tera-chan had been attacked.

Not only attacked, someone had _shot_ his baby sister.

Tsuna’s breaths had stayed steady but he could feel his own inner fire begin to simmer dangerously as he listened to Byakuran’s eerily flat voice explain that Terasu had been taken to Namimori General via an ambulance.  The youngest living Hibari had called her injury in- and everyone in Namimori knew that the Hibari family _owned_ Nami General- and one of Byakuran’s mother’s people had swooped in to take over her care upon her arrival. 

It was a good thing, too. 

According to what Byakuran had learned- he had spoken with the Hibari boy before calling Tsuna- Terasu’s powerful secondary Flame had positively _erupted._ By Hibari-san’s account her body had suddenly been bathed in a deep, golden cocoon of Flames that burned off all of her clothes- save her undergarments.  When the Flames had abated and Hibari-san had been able to approach her, he could no longer find any sign of the gunshot wound he had seen her get hit with.  There was a small, semi-circular, golden edged mark  just below her modest breast bindings.  Byakuran reported that Hibari had rolled Terasu over and noted that there was a corresponding mark on Terasu’s back- meaning that the shot went through her- but the wounds, themselves, had miraculously been healed. 

_“Hibari-san reported- and I have confirmed with the Yamada-sensei at Nami General- that Terasu’s wounds mended themselves.”  Byakuran informed Tsuna in a crisp, businesslike voice that somehow radiated dark intent towards the bastards who had dared harm Terasu.  “The x-rays showed no outstanding trauma to the bones and the CT scans also came back clean. Tera-chan still needed six units of blood as well as the usual intravenous infusion of fluids, however.  Yamada-sensei said that he will be asking Mama for permission to do a MRI tomorrow, but for now he wants Tera-chan to rest.”_

Tsuna had still run all the way to the hospital.

Normally Tsuna would have shown some fear or his shyness would have come crashing back down on him when Hibari-san had met Tsuna at the front desk.  However, this was the _second_ time Terasu had been badly injured- the first time had been almost four years ago when they had met Byakuran and Shōichi.

Tsuna was a peace lover.  He did not enjoy violence and was forever willing to hear other peoples’ side of the story.

But this was his _baby sister_.  His baby sister who had been walking down a side street in their _hometown_.

 _Not on my watch.  Not while I’m here_.  Those phrases had been roaring in his ears as he had run towards the hospital.  The phrases tumbling through his mind in an endless loop; only growing louder and fiercer with each mental recitation.

So when Hibari Kyouya intercepted Tsuna before Tsuna could make it to the welcoming desk, Tsuna had simply looked at him and said.  “Take me to my sister.”

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“ _Okaa-san, why don’t they like me?”  A young Kyouya asked his mother, tears pooling in his eyes only to be angrily pawed at by chubby baby hands._

_“Don’t let their words harm you, little one.”  His mother said, her voice smooth and calm as she picked up her small son and sat him in her lap._

_For a few moments there were only the sounds of the garden’s visitors, the clicking of the shishi odoshi, and Kyouya’s muffled sniffles._

_“They are weak.”  Kyouya’s mother said at length, absently passing her hand through Kyouya’s baby-soft hair.  “They cannot think for themselves, so they look to those who seem stronger to make their decisions for them.  They group together and attempt to tear down all those who are brave enough to walk their own path.”  Kyouya’s mother hummed lightly.  “Unfortunately, age does not cure the majority of this pathetic behavior.  It persists until they are cut down or death comes for them.  They are weak, so seeing the strong prosper angers them greatly.”_

_A loud screech rent the air and both mother and son looked up to see a large bird carrying a smaller bird in in its talons, the large bird angling towards the forested area that the back yard faded into.  The other birds that seemed to have been flying with the captured littler bird scattered, leaving the struggling, screeching bird to fend for itself as in the firm grip of the bird of prey._

_“They are like the coward people that I was speaking of, Kyouya.”  His mother told him when he asked why the birds had not attempted to help the captured bird.  “They fly together and torment the others of their species, but when confronted with a true predator they scatter to the winds like the cowards they truly are.”_

_“Predator?”  Kyouya asked his mother curiously, peeking up at her with red-rimmed slate-grey eyes._

_“Predator.”  His mother confirmed with a smile.  “Like- ah.  Like a hunter- or, or a carnivore.  One who eats prey instead of grass.”_

_“Carnivore, huh?”  Kyouya said, looking back towards the forested area intently.  “Carnivore.”_

_His mother tickled his side and he squirmed away from her searching digits with a laugh.  “Yes.  A carnivore.”  She bared her teeth at him before sweeping him up into her arms and playfully pretending to gnaw on him.  “A true carnivore eats meat, not grass.”_

_“Okaa-san!”_

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It had been a long time since he had thought about that day.  One of the last afternoons he and mother had spent in the garden together, before she had become bedridden entirely.  After she had died, Kyouya had gone back out and sworn that he would never be a weak _herbivore_ ; that he would be above such nonsense.  Okaa-san had fallen ill because of an old wound she had received while still a member of the Triads, before she had met Otou-san and escaped.

Escaped to Namimori, under the protection of the Hibari Clan.

Kyouya had stood on that porch, looking out towards the woods and swore that he would never be someone’s expendable lapdog.  That he would be a true Hibari.

Yet…..

Looking at Sawada Tsunayoshi, having been saved by Sawada Terasu, Kyouya felt both lost and found.

Lost, because he _knew_ he was not weak.

Found because- well, because that fire dancing behind Tsunayoshi’s normally timid eyes looked a lot like the kind that had enveloped Terasu.  Brilliant, deep, and kind and yet so very, very dangerous when crossed.  Warmth that could heal, mend, and bring together even as it shattered, slashed, and ripped apart.  The sort of power that could belong to a hero or a villain, it merely depended on which path the bearer chose to walk and whomever was speaking of them.

The sort of power that Kyouya knew rested in his own soul, one that he feared, yet craved.

So when the faintest smile curved at his lips and he stepped aside as he gestured Tsunayoshi forward while he murmured the room number was more than just a hollow movement.  It was more than just a simple gesture between two children. 

It was a dare, a plea, and a challenge.

Following- guarding- Tsunayoshi’s straight back down the hall, his footsteps unwavering and steady despite the heavy breaths he was dragging in and the sweat that soaked his clothes-

….well, that felt a little too right.

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“Mama, I’m fine.”  Terasu assured her mother for the tenth time in as many minutes.  “I promise.  Yamada-sensei said I can go home tomorrow, once my blood work comes back.”

Sawada Nana smoothed her daughter’s hair back with gentle hands, tucking some of Tera-chan’s rebellious curls behind an ear as the woman smiled tenderly at her daughter.  “I know.”  Nana told her daughter hesitantly, in a voice that shook lightly even as tears filled her eyes.  “I know that there’s something broken in me and I-I’m not always a good mother.” 

“Mam-“  Terasu tried to protest, only to be gently cut off by the elder woman.

“But you- and Tsu-kun- the both of you love me anyway.”  Nana continued as she fussed with Terasu’s hair a little more and fluffed the pillows and rearranged the blankets even as tears tracked down her cheeks.  “And that makes me love you even more.  I love you both so much- so very much that I think I would go positively mad if either of you-“  Nana’s voice broke and she pressed a lingering kiss to Terasu’s forehead before she settled back and clutched her daughter’s hand tightly.  “I won’t ask what really happened and I love that you did not lie to me.”  Nana sighed heavily and pulled their linked hands to cover her heart.  “Mama isn’t strong and brave and spirited like Tera-chan or Tsu-kun.  But that’s ok.  Because Tera-chan and Tsu-kun love Mama anyway and they bring home friends to fill her kitchen with laughter.”

Mama…”  Terasu whispered softly, filled with compassion and awe at seeing her usually ditsy mother so raw and vulnerable.

“But Tera-chan has to promise Mama that she’ll be safe.  That she’ll always remember the way home.  That you and Tsu-kun won’t leave Mama all alone.”  Nana smiled tremulously at her stricken daughter.  “Will you promise your Mama that much, Tera-chan?”

“I promise.”  Terasu hiccupped as she reached out her arms and her Mama gathered her up in a careful, but tight embrace.  “I _promise_.”

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Hibari Kyouya smirked coldly at the soundly defeated yakuza boss in front of him.  To the right of the eleven-year-old Hibari stood Sawada Tsunayoshi, the fluffy brown haired boy’s usually smiling face set in a firm frown.

Kyouya did not know the names of the others, but he was sure that he was in the presence of true carnivores here.  Perhaps they were only baring their teeth as retribution for the attack on Sawada Terasu, but Kyouya made a mental note to not mistake herbivores for _omnivores_ in the future.

“So you see~.”  The smiling white-haired boy with the dangerous aura that made Hibari’s instincts twitch.  “We have discovered a major flaw in Namimori.  One that we are more than happy to allow your little gang to fix, so long as you abide by our rules.”  Lavender eyes slit open and bore mercilessly into the terrified coal eyes of the downed man.  “As you are aware, we have defeated your entire syndicate by ourselves and I’m sure you’ve heard of our …ah, _associate’s_ work by now, yes?”

The downed man nodded warily.  The massacre of one of the darkest, most feared branches of that national yakuza organization had crashed through the yakuza community with all the force of a tsunami. 

“You see, we really don’t have time for most of your schemes, but we want to ensure that Namimori stays safe, ne?”  The white-haired teen’s eyes slid shut again and the oppressive atmosphere lightened a bit.  “But since you’re being so accommodating, I‘m sure that we won’t have much of an issue!  Now, to business!  Kikyō-chan~!”

“Hai, Byakuran-sama.”  Kikyō shuffled forward, sank down into a crossed-legged position gracefully and opened a laptop.  After a few moments of typing, he placed the device between himself and the man so the man could read the screen.  “Now, as Byakuran-sama mentioned, we care little for your petty operations.  However, you will need to go about things a bit differently if you wish to keep operating in this region…….”

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Motori Kimura took a few deep breaths as he watched the children who had brought his entire syndicate to its knees exit the building.

 _Well they certainly know how to make a lasting impression_.  The man thought wryly as he stared at the laptop that had been left behind for him.  _Truthfully this ‘takeover’ is relatively painless for us, especially considering what could have happened_.  The man’s lips twisted into a grimace as he considered the possibilities.  _And it’s not like their requests are something I’m opposed to_.

While Kimura was a yakuza, he also believed in the law.  He mostly believed that for the law- and therefore law enforcement’s efforts- to be effective there needed to be a resistance to it, else the system would become corrupt.

Yin and Yang, so to speak.

Kimura was not a stupid man by any stretch of the imagination, but he knew police precincts that were dirtier than the syndicates they hunted.  The opposite was quite true as well, but the eternal struggle between dark and light kept the majority safe.

At least in Kimura’s mind.

After all, what were a few incidents of yakuza and law enforcement struggles spilling over into the streets as opposed to an all-out civil war? 

No, abiding by the rules of the newly established Yorugao family’s would not be a hardship.  Kimura had always loved the fairytale about the poor farmer and his wife being gifted a daughter by the moon, so changing the name of his syndicate was no real loss.

Especially as the people who had forced the name onto them were all dead at the hands of that rather subtly terrifying white-haired teen’s associate.

No, Kimura was quite pleased with the direction that he would be leading his people in from here on out, and more than a little happy to hear the end of the seemingly endless ‘peach’ puns.

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“Tera-chan you look so _pretty_ , desu!”  Haru exclaimed as Terasu twirled lightly in her Turandot: The Second Act costume.

Haru had been working overtime to finish the costumes for Turandot: The Second Act and the Tanabata plays.  Well, her and her entire Club, but Haru had put in hundreds of extra hours into research and what she called ‘authentic-izing’ the costumes.

Terasu was guiltily glad that next summer would be her final play.  As much as she loved acting she wanted a bit more time to spend with her friend as just _friends_. 

To say that Haru had been quite distraught over Terasu’s short stay in the hospital after being targeted by would-be child traffickers would be a gross understatement.   Terasu _knew_ that the other girl had purposefully shuffled her already busy schedule around in order to be able to walk Terasu home ever since; never mind the fact that Tsuna was always available nowadays.  Let alone the Disciplinary Committee members patrolling the streets fairly heavily from the time school let out to at least an hour after the last Club let out.

It was touchingly endearing but Terasu didn’t want to cause her friend any extra stress. 

Especially as Haru would be working extra hard in the upcoming two semesters to get into Midori Middle.  Haru’s birthday was early enough in May that she had started Elementary just before she turned six.  So she was in her last year of Elementary now, as she had recently turned eleven.  Terasu would turn ten in just a few weeks and Tsuna would be catching back up to Haru in October, when he turned eleven.

So, while Terasu would most likely be assisting with productions beyond next year, she was looking forward to no longer having to bear the mantle of being the ‘lead’.

“Only because you put together such a magnificent outfit!”  Terasu gushed to her best girl friend as they clasped hands and performed a strange little dance-jig together.  “You did so much research and put so much hard work into this, Haru!  It’s _gorgeous_!”

“Indeed, well done Haru-chan~!”  Byakuran sang brightly as he bounced into the dressing room like he owned the place.  “Tera-chan’s hair sticks look particularly lovely.  You should wear them in the play, dear~!

The white-haired Italian twirled both young ladies around in a graceful circle before he collapsed back onto the only garment-free seating place in the entirety of the dressing room. 

“Haru agrees, desu!”  Haru laughed as she turned back to look at her best friend.  “They just look so lovely that they accentuate anything.”

“Haru-chan is the _best_!  Her outfits make me seem like royalty all on their own!”  Terasu enthused as she turned back to the mirror and made silly faces at herself.  “By the time I go through hair and makeup I’ll really look like a princess!”

Byakuran scoffed and smiled indulgently at Terasu.  “Hardly, darling.  You’re already a Queen.”

Terasu rolled her eyes even as Haru chimed in her agreement of the statement.

“Well.”  Terasu huffed exasperatedly as she spun to face her friends, her hands resting lightly at her hips.  “If I am a Queen then I name you both Lords- err, and Lady.”

Byakuran nodded regally while Haru giggled and curtsied.

“As you wish, milady.”

Terasu burst into a fresh wave of giggles which prompted Haru to respond in kind.

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Tsuna breathed in deeply, the air steadily trickling into his lungs via his nose.  When he felt as if his chest could hold not a single scrap more air he stopped.  He then held the breath inside him for exactly ten seconds before he deliberately exhaled through his mouth.

An indeterminable amount of time later Tsuna’s eyes blinked open lazily, his concentration disrupted by the soft tap of the folding door being drawn back.

“Ready, omnivore?”  The Hibari asked Tsuna levelly, an anticipatory light dancing behind his steel grey eyes.

“Almost, I need to stretch.”  Tsuna told the other, unfolding from his position on the tatami mat and briskly rolling his former seat into a neat cylinder before he padded over and replaced it in its designated holder.

Tsuna had been attempting to meditate in the small garden at Byakuran’s house.  Trying to see how long he could hold his Flames just under his skin yet fully powered.  It was an exercise that they had come up with once they realized that materializing Flames was actually the easy part- fine control was another thing entirely. 

Tsuna could actually make a passable kangaroo with his pretty orange Flames nowadays, but the exercise he had been doing for the past few hours was what had granted him the fine control he needed to accomplish such a feat.  Otherwise their attempts at making animals out of their Flames was more akin to cloud-watching and creative interpretation than actual distinct creatures.

He and Kyouya- Tsuna had earned the right to call Hibari by his given name through blood, sweat, and Flames- met up at here at least three times a week to either spar or run one of Spanner and Shōichi’s increasingly imaginative obstacle courses.

Speaking of which, their resident genii in all things mechanical, electronic, or generally tangible had just cleared their newest Train Room for full use.

“Are we sparring or running the obstacle course?”  Tsuna questioned the other as he stretched.

“Hn.”  Kyouya grunted noncommittally, but Tsuna was more than patient enough to allow his taciturn friend some time to make up his mind.  “Did Irie upgrade the course again?”

“ _Kyouya-kun.”  Terasu laughed as she spun around to walk backwards, facing the scowling boy behind her.  “Shō-kun and Spanner-kun, can make awesomely challenging obstacle courses and training simulations if you just ask nicely.”  Terasu arched a brow and stared meaningfully at the darkly glowering boy.  “That means using their names.”_

“Yes.”  Tsuna replied, mentally cheering at his sister’s adorable deviousness since had Kyouya actually used Irie’s name.  “They- Shō-kun and Spanner-kun- made a new one in Training Ground Delta.  It has laser trip wires, too.  They even put in some extra features.  Red paintballs for bullets- Spanner-kun said they even put in the appropriate sounds, for with or without various silencers.  Shō-kun said that there are random Flame attacks, they show up as a blue square and if you trigger it you get a unique attack.  Then there are black traps.”

“Hn?”  Kyouya inquired attentively as he dropped down to stretch as well. 

“They modeled the room off of their favorite video games, so it actually has four parts or ‘zones’.”  Tsuna explained as he twisted from side to side before rolling to his feet and methodically testing his body’s state of readiness.  “The areas spawn randomly- you remember that Mist that Bya-kun sent over, right?- well, Spanner-kun and Shō-kun- along with some help from Spanner’s grandfather and some of Byakuran’s other handpicked assistants- were able to build a device that mimics Mist Flames, so the room is….formidable.  And unpredictable.  There are a number of real-world scenarios as well as video game types.  I think Spanner said that the materials they used were mostly padded training stock but with some sort of smart tech that overlays a realistic illusion, which keeps score somehow.  Gives you a score at the end with a breakdown of everything, takes about ten minutes for it to print out, though.  The failsafe passphrase is ‘Cupcake’.”

Kyouya’s grin was rather unholy.  “Obstacle course, omnivore.  We won’t need that herbivorous word.”

The underground rooms to Byakuran’s house had been quite busy in the past half year.  Ever since Terasu’s nearly fatal encounter with those…those _bastards_ the tech-savvy minds in the group had been brainstorming ways that they could be better prepared.

Granted, they had taken over the both of the region’s major yakuza presences and Byakuran’s people were deeply committed to managing those aforementioned syndicates.  The crime rate in Gunma- their prefecture- had dropped drastically and the domino effect was also making waves in the nearby prefectures as well.  Not too much of an impact on the larger cities but the last seven attempted kidnappings of young children or teenagers had been handled rather pointedly. 

All of the attempts had failed, of course, and the underlings had been made examples of.

Byakuran and Kikyō had officially handled the negotiations but the Varia had been called to stand in as impartial witnesses- the reason why the meetings had been held in Tokyo, as the Varia were still being watches quite closely.  The terms that had been hammered out among the so-called ‘ambassadors’ were actually quite generous for all involved.  For the yakuza syndicates it gave them a ‘clean’ source of income and directed operations on to a cleaner- at least morally, not so much legally- path.  For the Namimori crew the agreements allowed them a decent amount of liberty in resolving issues as well as granted them the right to expand their operations to the entire prefecture- thereby granting Namimori a fairly good sized buffer zone.

Other people could save the world, Tsuna just wanted his Mama and Tera-chan _safe_.  Guaranteeing the safety of others was more of a by-product than a goal.

Tsuna wanted other girls like Tera-chan to be safe, of course, but he definitely was not interested in being a crusader.

 _“Chase two mice and you’ll catch neither.”_   Mama used to tell them.  It was a saying that had stuck with Tsuna and so when it came time to secure his sister’s safety- because his no-good Dad was obviously not going to do it right- Tsuna merely planned for what he knew they could sustain.  He had a great deal of help from his friends, naturally, but he was quite happy with how things had ended up.

 _Even still._   Tsuna thought somewhat disgruntledly as the digital voice counted down to the room’s activation, which would unlock the door and allow them in _.  I wish Tera-chan had never gotten hurt.  Again.  What the hell is that no-good Father of ours good for if he can’t even keep us safe?  You’d think he’d at least do that much right, given how he never comes home and makes Mama cry all the time._

“Focus, omnivore.”  Kyouya muttered as the door’s magnetic lock clicked and the Hibari grabbed the handle.  “If you perform pitifully because you are distracted I will bite you to death.”

“Sure, sure.”  Tsuna chirped with a grin as he quickly slipped in behind Kyouya, the door swinging shut behind them.  “Winner picks Saturday supper?”

“Hn.  Prepare to have hamburger steak, Sawada.” 

That was all the warning Tsuna got before Kyouya barreled forward, _tonfa_ slipping out in a bright flash of metal as the first wave of monsters came to life.

“Oh, joy.”  Tsuna muttered drolly as he dodged and slipped on his gloves.  “The _Diablo_ inspired zone, right off the bat?  _Jerks_.”

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Terasu laughed brightly as she slipped around Haru and tipped her neatly cut vegetables into the piping hot pan.  “You’re it!”  She sing-songed cheerfully to her Mama.

“Ara?”  Nana said as she tugged her daughter close with one arm and stirred the vegetable around with the utensil held in her other pan.  “You think you can just tip things into my pan and run away, Tera-chan?”

“Yep!”  Terasu laughed as she tipped up onto her toes to kiss her mother’s cheek before she slithered out of Nana’s gentle hold.  “I’m the wok ninja!”

“Oho?”  Byakuran said from his spot across from Kyouya out on the deck. 

Haru nodded seriously from her place at the table, thinly slicing the onions.  “Super sneaky, that one.” 

Terasu rolled her eyes expressively as the younger Sawada settled back into her seat, determinedly setting to grating the carrots.

“So much sass in this kitchen.”  Terasu snarked, sharing a bright grin with Haru as the two girls bumped each other’s shoulders together in a friendly, conspiratorial manner.

Nana’s laugh carried easily through the chaos, seemingly brightening the room even more as she took to swaying in time with the newest song on the radio.

Byakuran had insisted on a mandatory weekly dinner at the Sawada home- something Mama had been delighted by- and thus every Saturday afternoon the Sawada house would fill with Terasu and Tsuna’s growing collection of friends.

Kyouya would set up a game of Go or Shogi on the back porch, the netting usually being unrolled to keep the bugs outside.  Kyouya’s opponent would vary, but someone would inevitably plop themselves down across from the young Hibari and a battle of wits would ensue.  Terasu and Nana would dance around the kitchen- usually assisted by Haru- chopping, dicing, and chatting with the sounds of the satellite radio lightly playing in the background.  Shōichi, Spanner, and Tsuna would usually congregate in the living room and play video games, while Kikyō and Kyouya’s Disciplinary Committee second-in-command Kusakabe Tetsuya would work on their not inconsiderable amount of paperwork at the kitchen table. 

Everyone usually had some finger foods available and the mood would be pleasantly chaotic for most of the afternoon.

Terasu wished that Prince Bel and Luss-nee could be there with them, though.

―――ᴖᴗ―□―∞―◊―●―○―ᴖᴗ―□―∞◊―●―○ᴖᴗ―□―∞◊―●―○ᴖᴗ―□―∞―≡―◊―●―○―ᴖᴗ―◊―――


End file.
